Keep this talk on file for your records. Electrical Shock Electrical shock kills and injures hundreds of Ohio workers each year. Most of these accidents happen because people don't look, don't think or just don't understand the shocking power of electricity. Voltage, current and resistance are the basic terms used when talking about electricity. Voltage is the force that causes the current to flow.
Resistance denotes the restrictions that try to slow down or stop the flow.
Electrical shock can only occur when a part of the body completes a circuit between a conductor and another conductor or a grounding source. Of course, the higher the voltage, the greater the amount of current. Some people have survived shocks of several thousand volts, while others have been killed by voltages as low as 12. The dry outer skin of the human body offers extremely high resistance to electrical flow. However, this resistance is reduced to almost zero when the skin is wet, especially if the skin is wet because of perspiration.