Electrostatic discharge (ESD) is the sudden and momentary flow of electric current between two differently charged objects when brought close together or when the dielectric between them breaks down, often creating a visible spark associated with the discharge. ESD can cause harmful effects of importance in industry, including explosions in gas, fuel vapor, and coal dust, as well as failure of solid-state electronics components such as integrated circuits. ESD can occur without warning and can damage sensitive devices, which can continue to function, leading to a latent defect that is hard to detect but ultimately shortens the life of the device.

ESD prevention within an EPA (Electrostatic Protected Area) may include using appropriate ESD-safe packing material, the use of conductive filaments on garments worn by assembly workers, conducting wrist straps and foot-straps to prevent high voltages from accumulating on workers bodies, anti-static mats or conductive flooring materials to conduct harmful electric charges away from the work area, and humidity control. Electronics manufacturers incorporate various ESD protection measures to prevent issues in the manufacturing process, which includes fabricating, testing, shipping, and handling. ESD countermeasures are necessary at all points where electrical devices are likely to come into contact with a person or an object, including USB2.0, USB3.0, output terminals, LAN, various I/O interfaces, or other points where a user connects or disconnects a connector, cases in which an operation button of an electrical product is touched, or a device touches a board during a production process, and also cases in which boards are connected to each other using a connector.