tony sayer wrote:
Standing on a ladder on a wooden (probably) floor the leakage through
your body to earth will be virtually non-existent. You'll probably
have shoes with rubber/plastic soles as well.


Don't you believe it!. Well if you do, then grab the mains in one hand
and note the results.

Usual disclaimer don't they this at home unless by doing so you'll help
the gene pool along.......

Have *you* actually done it? I've hung on to the output of a Van de
Graaf generator while simply standing on a piece of perspex and charged
myself up to hundreds of thousands of volts if not millions - not a
tingle, until someone walks to close to you.

In reality in the house you have to be touching something metallic or
standing on a wet (probably concrete) floor to get a shock. In
ordinary shoes on a carpet you will feel *nothing* if you touch live
mains with one finger (and, yes, I have done it occasionally when
working on something live). Mostly one gets a shock because *both*
hands are touching something conductive (and that's the worst for you
too as the electricity runs across your chest).

In workplaces where live working on benches is commonplace significant
shock prevention is provided by a vinyl floor covering and training
people to use only one hand.

--
Chris Green