Improper or Lack of Grounding

The grounding system at a building provides an easy path for electricity to flow to earth should a problem, such as a short circuit occur. Allowing current to flow to earth through the ground system helps assure that a circuit breaker will trip or fuse will blow should a problem occur.

Should an electrical fault occur where no ground path is present, the electrical potential is just sitting there waiting for a person to come along, touch some component of the system, and by accidentally providing a path to earth through their body, receive a burn or potentially fatal shock.