Electricity...?

ladycheshire5

Barefooters
Aug 16, 2011
91
1
8
This is kind of a silly side note to all my BF training... and I have no clue if it's related or not, but my co-workers made the comment and I thought it was funny. I work in diagnostic imaging so I am around big xray machines all day both rooms are not carpeted, they have vinyl floors. For about two weeks now I'm continually getting "shocked" when I touch things in the room, the machine or the patients! So, I touch a patients shoulder = *zap*... "oh, sorry!" I do mammograms so, yes, I touched *those* and *zap*... "OH GOSH, I am sorry, I don't know why I keep getting electrified!" Mind you, it's not dry weather around here, in fact this week was pretty wet. I asked my co-worker if she'd had the same experience and she said no. A little later on she and another co-worker came to me and said they thought I was getting shocked because of my barefoot activities!
puzzled.png
? They think because I've been running around without shoes on, closer to the earth etc.... Ha! So, my response to them was: "yeah, and you're all really out of touch!" :p Curious though, could there be any connection... I giggle a little when I ask this. ;)
 
Have you changed your work

Have you changed your work shoes? I worked for a company and depending on the shoes I wore I would get shocked pretty badly at the file cabinets, my computer, coworkers, etc... Not sure what the difference in the shoes was but a couple pair really shocked the crap out of me and I had to stop wearing them. Also if you shuffle your feet you generate a ton of static electricity, so maybe you are tired and shuffling your feet more than normal. Other than that I haven't heard of anything else.
 
Hmmm if anything I would

Hmmm if anything I would think being barefoot would greatly reduce the chance of static buildup. It takes an insulating layer to allow a charge differential between your body and the earth (rubber soles). Special anti static shoes usually have a carbon compound or something like that in the rubber to make it partly conductive and allow the charges to neutralize. Puzzled on this one?!? Maybe your foot is extra 'leathery' due to the bf running? One thing I always do when I suspect I might have a static charge is just to touch something grounded like the metal body of something plugged into a grounded plug, or the metal screw on a lightswitch etc. before shaking hands or touching someone else. If the charge is bad enough to hurt (when I wore my leather coat in my last car it was almost guaranteed I could draw a visible half-inch spark each time I got out!) there is a trick to avoid feeling the spark all together... hold something bare metal like your house key in your fingers and touch the ground screw of the switch or whatever with the key and not your bare skin. You wont feel a thing and in the dark its pretty cool to see it spark!
 
Another imaging worker!I

Another imaging worker!

I have not had problems electricuting patients however!

I assume that you have to wear something on your feet while working. ( I often get away without!) If you have insulating shoes such as rubber soled clogs, you may build up a charge while walking which will go to earth when you touch a grounded or less charged object such as an xray machine or a patient! The charging effect will only last a few seconds so will not be related to your barefoot activity the rest of the time.

If the people you work with do not have the same problem, they probably have less insulating shoes and or different cloths which do not build up the charge in the first place.
 
You could get deGaussing

You could get deGaussing mats. We used to have to have them for working on old behemouth computers that would crash if they got zapped by static charges as you describe.

You could also try spritzing your work area with watered down fabric softener. That would certainly reduce any charges you could build up.
 
  I get "zapped" when I touch

I get "zapped" when I touch "those" too. But the zap usually comes in the form of a tazer.
 
So that's what happened to

So that's what happened to you, Ram. I've always wondered why you seemed a bit touched. Hee. ;-)
 
Thanks for the replies! I've

Thanks for the replies! I've been busy! OK, we have vinyl floors in that room, usually shuffling feet on carpet (I think) is the surface that collects extra e-'s ??? We don't have any of those special mats, not sure we could get them. I'm still getting zapped everyday. It doesn't bother *me* but I feel bad for my patients when I touch them and zap them! I don't know, I'm just wearing regular old running shoes. I've taken a break from the Merrells at work. But, I think I want to give them another try and see if I have the same troubles.



@footloose2, exactly how is it you get away with no shoes at work? I'm very curious! And one other co-worker wears crocs a lot, the other wears sneakers like me. ?? Both don't have my problems. ::shrugging shoulders::
 
Wore my Merrells today.

Wore my Merrells today. Didn't have the same problem with the zapping. ;) But, I did notice I really don't shuffle at all in these and I might do a bit in the running shoes. Maybe that is it.
 
Good tip, Kean.  It seems I

Good tip, Kean. It seems I went through a stage too where I was always getting shocked this time of year, but not for a few years now. Hmmmm. Maybe I'm more grounded now. Ha!
 
a few weeks back I wore a

a few weeks back I wore a pair of sneakers to work (they wouldn't let me wear sandals) and I found myself shuffling and tripping alot actually. Like my feet and brain have decided where the ground should be, and the inch of cushioning is no longer accounted for. Maybe that's what is happening to you too, hence the shuffling.
 
That is an interesting

That is an interesting observation Hobbitfeet, it's a possibility. I haven't been going barefoot that long but I suppose that could still happen. I did try the sneakers again yesterday along with the dryer sheet in my pocket, still got zapped. baffled. Interesting phenomena.