ELECTRICAL SAFETY QUIZ

BELIEF #1:

IF YOU TALK ON THE PHONE DURING A LIGHTNING STORM, YOU CAN GET ELECTROCUTED.

Not likely. But not absolutely impossible. Any phone line or circuit managed by a telecommunications company has a ground path built into it at the pole which "bleeds" off excess voltage that hits the line.

If lightning actually did strike your outside phone line, you would probably hear a loud pop, says John Schnieders, area safety manager for Southwestern Bell in Missouri. However," he warns "there is a very minute possibility that if the ground source were broken or disconnected, lightning could come in on the telephone instrument. But unless you were touching a ground source, the worst that would probably happen to someone is a small burn." Play it safe, though. If lightning is in close proximity to your home stay off the phone.

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