MENDA - Questions And Answers

In a 911 communication center, our dispatcher's rolling chairs pick up a charge which is then discharged to the equipment being used, causing discomfort and equipment failure. How do we quiet these chairs and/or floors? - Anonymous, Mcminnville, OR

If these are non-fabric chairs, then you can still use your existing chairs if you cover them with a conductive material and ground this to the power ground (via a conductive floor). We would suggest getting a cover for each of the chairs if they do not already have one. We would also suggest a floor mat for each chair. This would be the ideal solution (along with grounding the operators via wrist straps and covering all metal surfaces with a dissipative one). Another solution would be to use Carpet Protector, which can be sprayed on a fabric chair to imbibe Dissipative and Low Charging properties. With this solution, you may still want to ground the operators via wrist straps and covering all metal surfaces with a dissipative one as well at treat the floor (if carpet with this treatment or if vinyl tiles or cement, with Floor finish).

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