Dangers of ESD wrist wrap / mat / ground Plug Adapter in an Apartment building?

Question

I would like to know if there are any dangers when we are using a wrist wrap connected to an ESD mat that is connected to ground on the wall socket in an apartment building.

Lets imagine that in your above neighbor something shorts and releases all the current to the ground cable, and between him and the earth is my flat and the socket that I am using with my ESD mat..... or even, other scenario, like a thunderstorm and some lightning hits a roof rod and all that charge goes down the building and once again I am somehow in the middle....

Is this even possible to happen? Should I worry? Is there anything I can do about it?

Answer 1

Yes, you are potentially in danger whenever your body is connected through a low impedance path to earth ground.

They key point is low impedance. You should check that your wrist strap includes an high value resistor (1 Mohm, typically).

There are models which don't include that resistor: they are made to be used in environments where the high impedance is provided by another part of the grounding system, and they are not to be connected directly to earth ground wires.

See this other thread (@AlmostDone has posted it as a comment, but it is better to include the reference in this answer, so that it doesn't get lost).

In particular see my answer in that thread and browse the references I made there.