Here in Aussie-Land we are supposed to have a "
she'll be right!" attitude!. (Though
not really!)
Like most things in life, it just needs common sense, and knowing what you are doing. However...
I've had
countless 100's of 'shocks', (mostly
deliberately ) in my 40+ years career !!
My skin resistance is quite low, and I've regularly flicked the back of my fingers on a wire etc, while
I'm grounded, to see if it's Alive !! (240v here, not 110v). You never use the 'inside' of your finger or
hand, as the current contracts your muscles, as so you may grab it '
tighter' then !
I started my career with E.T.S.A. (the old main power authority in South-Aust). Almost without variance,
when working on/modifying circuitry/switchboard main control panels inside Sub-Stations, we would
have to work on such systems/panels while 'Live'
so as not to disrupt the local power-grid.
We would just stand on
blocks of polystyrene to grab live terminals, studs, busbars etc to wire things up.
You just make sure you don't, for example, reach for a spanner etc from on top of the metal framing!!
A couple of interesting point to think about though...
Voltages like 240v, CAN OF COURSE KILL YOU ! Mainly not just the number of mA through you, but the
amount of TIME it has been flowing. Even if you fall/thrown away say 2 secs later, what happens is that
your heart goes into what's called '
Ventricular-Fibrillation', which is a useless 'quivering' action of the heart.
You will need immediate CPR, and when finally available, the use of a 'Defibrillator' to normalize the heart.
HOWEVER, higher-voltage shocks are a different 'beast' all together ! (say... 4,000v, or 8,000v etc.).
(I'm not talking about 'Frequency' here, as mentioned above, as that's a whole new discussion).Even relatively short periods of 'time' while connected, can result now in actual physical 'burning', of not
only the Dermis, but deep muscular burns, including organs! depending on the 'path' of the current flow.
Yet,
MORE PEOPLE SURVIVE THESE ! if the time has not been too long. Why ?...
These higher voltages result in the heart initially contracting
so tightly, that the heart usually does NOT
go into 'Ventricular-Fibrillation', so when the shock is removed, it goes back to normal, & you 'survive'