Is the ground pin down safer in a single fault condition where there is a flood or if the fire sprinklers are activated?
Larry Merchell ________________________________ From: John Woodgate <[email protected]> Sent: Friday, June 12, 2026 4:12 PM To: [email protected] <[email protected]> Subject: Re: [PSES] [EXTERNAL] [PSES] Friday Question - in the USA, ground pin down or gorund pin up? Agreed; losing the ground connection must not create an unsafe condition, but leakage is inevitable, even if it is much less than 1 mA, so that when the ground connection is lost, accessible parts may be at 50 V or so to ground when touched, which can be felt as a mild shock. On 2026-06-12 23:42, Ralph McDiarmid wrote: A fundamental axiom across all modern product‑safety standards is that two independent levels of protection must exist so that no single failure can result in a hazard or in an unsafe condition. From: John Woodgate <[email protected]><mailto:[email protected]> Sent: June 12, 2026 8:58 AM To: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> Subject: Re: [PSES] [EXTERNAL] [PSES] Friday Question - in the USA, ground pin down or gorund pin up? Yes, but that by itself should not create an unsafe condition. A second fault is needed (NOT!) to make accessible conducting parts live. There might be a mild shock due to leakage current, though. On 2026-06-12 16:24, Ted Eckert wrote: However, if the plug is pulled at a severe angle, there is a risk that the ground connection breaks before line and neutral. -- Best wishes John Woodgate RAYLEIGH Essex OOO-Own Opinions Only www.woodjohn.uk<http://www.woodjohn.uk> If something is true: * as far as we know - it's science *for certain - it's mathematics *unquestionably - it's religion [https://s-install.avcdn.net/ipm/preview/icons/icon-envelope-tick-green-avg-v1.png]<http://www.avg.com/email-signature?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_campaign=sig-email&utm_content=emailclient> Virus-free.www.avg.com<http://www.avg.com/email-signature?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_campaign=sig-email&utm_content=emailclient> ________________________________ This message is from the IEEE Product Safety Engineering Society emc-pstc discussion list. To post a message to the list, send your e-mail to [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> All emc-pstc postings are archived and searchable on the web at: https://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/<https://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/%20> Website: https://ewh.ieee.org/soc/pses/ Instructions: https://ewh.ieee.org/soc/pses/list.html (including how to unsubscribe)<https://ewh.ieee.org/soc/pses/list.html> List rules: https://pses.ieee.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/EM-PSTC-List-Rules.pdf For help, send mail to the list administrators: Mike Sherman at: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> Rick Linford at: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> For policy questions, send mail to: Jim Bacher at: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> ________________________________ To unsubscribe from the EMC-PSTC list, click the following link: https://listserv.ieee.org/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=EMC-PSTC&A=1 ________________________________ This message is from the IEEE Product Safety Engineering Society emc-pstc discussion list. To post a message to the list, send your e-mail to [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> All emc-pstc postings are archived and searchable on the web at: https://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ Website: https://ewh.ieee.org/soc/pses/ Instructions: https://ewh.ieee.org/soc/pses/list.html (including how to unsubscribe)<https://ewh.ieee.org/soc/pses/list.html> List rules: https://pses.ieee.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/EM-PSTC-List-Rules.pdf For help, send mail to the list administrators: Mike Sherman at: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> Rick Linford at: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> For policy questions, send mail to: Jim Bacher at: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> ________________________________ To unsubscribe from the EMC-PSTC list, click the following link: https://listserv.ieee.org/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=EMC-PSTC&A=1 -- Best wishes John Woodgate RAYLEIGH Essex OOO-Own Opinions Only www.woodjohn.uk<http://www.woodjohn.uk> If something is true: * as far as we know - it's science *for certain - it's mathematics *unquestionably - it's religion ________________________________ This message is from the IEEE Product Safety Engineering Society emc-pstc discussion list. To post a message to the list, send your e-mail to [email protected] All emc-pstc postings are archived and searchable on the web at: https://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ Website: https://ewh.ieee.org/soc/pses/ Instructions: https://ewh.ieee.org/soc/pses/list.html (including how to unsubscribe)<https://ewh.ieee.org/soc/pses/list.html> List rules: https://pses.ieee.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/EM-PSTC-List-Rules.pdf For help, send mail to the list administrators: Mike Sherman at: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> Rick Linford at: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> For policy questions, send mail to: Jim Bacher at: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> ________________________________ To unsubscribe from the EMC-PSTC list, click the following link: https://listserv.ieee.org/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=EMC-PSTC&A=1 - ---------------------------------------------------------------- This message is from the IEEE Product Safety Engineering Society emc-pstc discussion list. To post a message to the list, send your e-mail to [email protected] All emc-pstc postings are archived and searchable on the web at: https://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ Website: https://ewh.ieee.org/soc/pses/ Instructions: https://ewh.ieee.org/soc/pses/list.html (including how to unsubscribe) List rules: https://pses.ieee.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/EM-PSTC-List-Rules.pdf For help, send mail to the list administrators: Mike Sherman at: [email protected] Rick Linford at: [email protected] For policy questions, send mail to: Jim Bacher: <[email protected]> _________________________________________________ To unsubscribe from the EMC-PSTC list, click the following link: https://listserv.ieee.org/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=EMC-PSTC&A=1
