A common cause for catastrophic failure in a magnetic disk storage system is due to the collection of debris on the slider/head assembly. Two factors contributing to these failures are: a) disk liquid lubricant provides a sticky medium for debris accumulation; and b) electrostatic charge on the slider assembly generated by friction attracts and accumulates debris. A method for reducing electrostatic charge build-up uses a conductive coating on a surface area of the slider. By providing a conducting path to the metallic disk on which the recording medium is applied, the triboelectrically generated charge on the slider is allowed to bleed-off. Providing an additional overcoat of a solid self-lubricant, and forming a wedge-shaped slider load-bearing surface for deflection of surface debris, results in the reduction of both failure causes.