Electrical Safety

In the TV show "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia", Dennis and Mac are attempting to fix the circuit breaker in their bar. This is extremely dumb, as all electrical work should be done by a licensed electrician. Electrical work involving the circuit breaker is particularly dangerous.

Watch the video below. Warning: Coarse language, including use of the words g**d*** and s***.


  1. At 0:04, Mac suggests wiping the rusty electrical circuit breaker with a wet rag. Why is this a bad idea?
  2. At 0:13, Dennis says that a rubber screwdriver will protect him. Is this true? Why or why not?
  3. At 0:15, Mac says that Dennis has to be standing on rubber. Would this work to protect him? Why or why not?
  4. At 0:22, Mac suggests jumping into the air to prevent being electrocuted. Would this work? Why or why not?
  5. At 1:07, Frank suggests using a harness to hold himself in the air while doing the repair. Would this work? Why or why not?

Watch the following excerpt from Jurassic Park, paying particular attention to the electric fence.

  1. Do you think the boy would have been electrocuted like that? Why or why not?

If you are having a hard time answering the questions above, please watch the first 1:25 of the video below for more help.

Power line workers wear conductive suits to protect themselves when working on high voltage power lines that are still energized.

Lastly, here is a video by WorkSafeBC about a worker who was electrocuted while working near high voltage power lines. Trigger warning: This video describes, in detail, an accident that killed a worker.