"No
Ifs, Ands, or Buts About Electricity:""No
Ifs, Ands, or Buts About Electricity:"
Most electrical fatalities occur at voltages of less than 500 volts, and a large number of those occur on 115 volt circuits and equipment. Those voltages are most likely to cause "ventricular fibrillation," irregular, rapid contractions of the muscle fibers of the heart, that do not respond to cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). Higher voltages are less likely to cause this deadly condition, but they can cause more severe burning. And shocks that are not sever enough to electrocute can still result in death because of their effect on muscles. (For example, a person who is mildly shocks can fall to his or her death from a ladder or scaffold.) Needless to say, all types of electrical shock must be avoided.
Improper grounding frequently results in shocks from equipment having internal leakage to its enclosure. A person touching the equipment and structural steel, piping, or earth provides a path for ground current, which is likely to start fibrillation or the "no-let-go" effect, which tightens the grip, allowing more current to flow. None of this would happen if the wiring and the tool were properly grounded.
Principal contributors are wetness of equipment and surroundings, working on concrete floors or on grades, or on structural steel and, most of all, widespread use of temporary wiring.
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