IEC 61340-6-1:2018

IEC 61340-6-1 ®
Edition 1.1 2024-10
CONSOLIDATED VERSION
INTERNATIONAL
STANDARD
colour
inside
Electrostatics –
Part 6-1: Electrostatic control for healthcare – General requirements for
facilities Electrostatic control in healthcare, commercial and public facilities –
Healthcare
All rights reserved. Unless otherwise specified, no part of this publication may be reproduced or utilized in any form
or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and microfilm, without permission in writing from
either IEC or IEC's member National Committee in the country of the requester. If you have any questions about IEC
copyright or have an enquiry about obtaining additional rights to this publication, please contact the address below or
your local IEC member National Committee for further information.

IEC Secretariat Tel.: +41 22 919 02 11
3, rue de Varembé info@iec.ch
CH-1211 Geneva 20 www.iec.ch
Switzerland
About the IEC
The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) is the leading global organization that prepares and publishes
International Standards for all electrical, electronic and related technologies.

About IEC publications
The technical content of IEC publications is kept under constant review by the IEC. Please make sure that you have the
latest edition, a corrigendum or an amendment might have been published.

IEC publications search - webstore.iec.ch/advsearchform IEC Products & Services Portal - products.iec.ch
The advanced search enables to find IEC publications by a Discover our powerful search engine and read freely all the
variety of criteria (reference number, text, technical publications previews, graphical symbols and the glossary.
committee, …). It also gives information on projects, replaced With a subscription you will always have access to up to date
and withdrawn publications. content tailored to your needs.

IEC Just Published - webstore.iec.ch/justpublished
Electropedia - www.electropedia.org
Stay up to date on all new IEC publications. Just Published
The world's leading online dictionary on electrotechnology,
details all new publications released. Available online and once
containing more than 22 500 terminological entries in English
a month by email.
and French, with equivalent terms in 25 additional languages.

Also known as the International Electrotechnical Vocabulary
IEC Customer Service Centre - webstore.iec.ch/csc
(IEV) online.
If you wish to give us your feedback on this publication or need

further assistance, please contact the Customer Service
Centre: sales@iec.ch.
IEC 61340-6-1 ®
Edition 1.1 2024-10
CONSOLIDATED VERSION
INTERNATIONAL
STANDARD
colour
inside
Electrostatics –
Part 6-1: Electrostatic control for healthcare – General requirements for
facilities Electrostatic control in healthcare, commercial and public facilities –
Healthcare
INTERNATIONAL
ELECTROTECHNICAL
COMMISSION
ICS 17.220.99, 29.020, 11.020.99 ISBN 978-2-8322-9913-5
REDLINE VERSION – 2 – IEC 61340-6-1:2018+AMD1:2024 CSV
© IEC 2024
CONTENTS
FOREWORD . 3
INTRODUCTION . 5
1 Scope . 6
2 Normative references . 6
3 Terms and definitions . 7
4 Electrostatic hazards . 8
4.1 General . 8
4.2 ESD effects on equipment . 9
4.3 Contamination caused by ESA . 9
4.4 Ignition of flammable substances . 10
4.5 Electrostatic shock to people . 10
5 Electrostatic control requirements . 10
5.1 General . 10
5.2 Medical procedures . 10
5.3 Medical locations . 10
5.3.1 Classification by groups . 10
5.3.2 Unclassified rooms . 11
5.3.3 Group 0 – Electrostatic control recommended . 11
5.3.4 Group 1 – Electrostatic control recommended conditionally required . 11
5.3.5 Group 2 – Electrostatic control required . 12
5.4 Service and maintenance . 12
5.5 Administrative requirements and recommendations. 12
5.5.1 Designing facilities. 12
5.5.2 Operational responsibility . 12
5.5.3 Qualification and verification . 12
5.6 Technical requirements . 13
5.6.1 Electrical safety . 13
5.6.2 Material classification . 13
5.6.3 Selection of materials for electrostatic control . 14
5.7 Packaging, containers and other electrostatic control items . 16
Annex A (normative) Test methods for low charging textiles . 17
A.1 Test methods for clothing and upholstery . 17
A.2 Test methods for bedding, curtains, and surgical drapes . 17
Annex B (informative) Ionization and other considerations . 21
Bibliography . 22

Figure A.1 – Example of test equipment set up for measuring body voltage when
removing item of bedding or surgical drape from person wearing reference clothing . 18
Figure A.2 – Example of test equipment set up for measuring body voltage when
removing item of bedding or surgical drape from bed or examination/operating table . 19
Figure A.3 – Example of test equipment set up for measuring body voltage on two
people when removing item of bedding or surgical drape . 20

Table 1 – Summary of electrostatic control methods for specified locations . 11

© IEC 2024
INTERNATIONAL ELECTROTECHNICAL COMMISSION
____________
ELECTROSTATICS –
Part 6-1: Electrostatic control for healthcare –
General requirements for facilities
Electrostatic control in healthcare,
commercial and public facilities – Healthcare

FOREWORD
1) The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) is a worldwide organization for standardization comprising
all national electrotechnical committees (IEC National Committees). The object of IEC is to promote
international co-operation on all questions concerning standardization in the electrical and electronic fields. To
this end and in addition to other activities, IEC publishes International Standards, Technical Specifications,
Technical Reports, Publicly Available Specifications (PAS) and Guides (hereafter referred to as “IEC
Publication(s)”). Their preparation is entrusted to technical committees; any IEC National Committee interested
in the subject dealt with may participate in this preparatory work. International, governmental and non-
governmental organizations liaising with the IEC also participate in this preparation. IEC collaborates closely
with the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) in accordance with conditions determined by
agreement between the two organizations.
2) The formal decisions or agreements of IEC on technical matters express, as nearly as possible, an international
consensus of opinion on the relevant subjects since each technical committee has representation from all
interested IEC National Committees.
3) IEC Publications have the form of recommendations for international use and are accepted by IEC National
Committees in that sense. While all reasonable efforts are made to ensure that the technical content of IEC
Publications is accurate, IEC cannot be held responsible for the way in which they are used or for any
misinterpretation by any end user.
4) In order to promote international uniformity, IEC National Committees undertake to apply IEC Publications
transparently to the maximum extent possible in their national and regional publications. Any divergence
between any IEC Publication and the corresponding national or regional publication shall be clearly indicated in
the latter.
5) IEC itself does not provide any attestation of conformity. Independent certification bodies provide conformity
assessment services and, in some areas, access to IEC marks of conformity. IEC is not responsible for any
services carried out by independent certification bodies.
6) All users should ensure that they have the latest edition of this publication.
7) No liability shall attach to IEC or its directors, employees, servants or agents including individual experts and
members of its technical committees and IEC National Committees for any personal injury, property damage or
other damage of any nature whatsoever, whether direct or indirect, or for costs (including legal fees) and
expenses arising out of the publication, use of, or reliance upon, this IEC Publication or any other IEC
Publications.
8) Attention is drawn to the Normative references cited in this publication. Use of the referenced publications is
indispensable for the correct application of this publication.
9) IEC draws attention to the possibility that the implementation of this document may involve the use of (a)
patent(s). IEC takes no position concerning the evidence, validity or applicability of any claimed patent rights in
respect thereof. As of the date of publication of this document, IEC had not received notice of (a) patent(s),
which may be required to implement this document. However, implementers are cautioned that this may not
represent the latest information, which may be obtained from the patent database available at
https://patents.iec.ch. IEC shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.
This consolidated version of the official IEC Standard and its amendment has been
prepared for user convenience.
IEC 61340-6-1 edition 1.1 contains the first edition (2018-09) [documents 101/566/FDIS
and 101/570/RVD] and its amendment 1 (2024-10) [documents 101/713/FDIS and
101/720/RVD].
In this Redline version, a vertical line in the margin shows where the technical content
is modified by amendment 1. Additions are in green text, deletions are in strikethrough

REDLINE VERSION – 4 – IEC 61340-6-1:2018+AMD1:2024 CSV
© IEC 2024
red text. A separate Final version with all changes accepted is available in this
publication.
International Standard IEC 61340-6-1 has been prepared by IEC technical committee 101:
Electrostatics.
This document has been drafted in accordance with the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2.
A list of all parts in the IEC 61340 series, published under the general title Electrostatics, can
be found on the IEC website.
The committee has decided that the contents of this document and its amendment will remain
unchanged until the stability date indicated on the IEC website under webstore.iec.ch in the
data related to the specific document. At this date, the document will be
• reconfirmed,
• withdrawn, or
• revised.
IMPORTANT – The 'colour inside' logo on the cover page of this publication indicates
that it contains colours which are considered to be useful for the correct
understanding of its contents. Users should therefore print this document using a
colour printer.
© IEC 2024
INTRODUCTION
Static electricity can be the source of several hazards to patients, staff and equipment in
healthcare facilities. Such hazards include:
• electromagnetic disturbance or electrostatic discharge (ESD) disruption or damage to
medical instrumentation and data processing equipment;
• damage to ESD susceptible electronic components and assemblies during service and
maintenance;
• electrostatic attraction (ESA) and contamination;
• ignition of flammable gases, liquids and other materials, and
• electrostatic shocks to people.
Adequate electrostatic control can eliminate these hazards, or at least reduce residual risk to
tolerable levels.
REDLINE VERSION – 6 – IEC 61340-6-1:2018+AMD1:2024 CSV
© IEC 2024
ELECTROSTATICS –
Part 6-1: Electrostatic control for healthcare
...