"Most technicians are shocked as Management had the workbenches built of
metal, for extreme durability, and for "convenience" decided to ground
the entire bench with 12AWG wire - That way there's always a ground
handy when you need one."

(My high school's benches were this way, we tended to stay well clear of
HV stuff as if you were near the underside of the bench, your leg was
GUARANTEED to be grounded or at best *near* ground, if you were wearing
heavy long pants.  NOT recommended, IMHO, to build benches this way!)

I've seen techs working on live circuits, one habit for keeping you from
grabbing a falling charged object is to cram the unused hand into a rear
pants pocket, then make a fist, this tends to stop most people from
whipping that hand out in time to catch that falling HV wire or
whatever.

Worst current paths are across the center of the chest - from left arm
to right leg, etc.  From arm to arm doesn't hit the heart AS badly as
across the center of the chest, and of course neither's recommended <G>

  Mark

Sean H. Breheny wrote:
>
> Thanks for all the replies. Perhaps this is a good time to bring up a
> question I posted a long while ago and never got a satisfactory answer: How
> do most people get shocked in general? In other words, what is the usual
> current path? Let's say that I grab a hot wire with one hand anf I am
> touching a grounded case with my other hand. Well,then its obvious.
> <snipped>