There are places where electrical discharges are definitely to be avoided
At one place I worked certain staff needed conductive footwear so as to avoid things a lot louder than the crack! of a static discharge.
Prospective suppliers would have their sample shoes tested. Virtually all would fail. They carefully made the soles out of a conductive compound, but then spoiled things by using a standard, non-conductive, insole.
The test rig was ingenious. The shoe was placed on a metal plate connected to one terminal of a meter, and the other terminal was connected to the inside of the shoe by a braided lead. The interior of the shoe was then filled with ball bearings to complete the circuit (though mostly not).
Biting the hand that feeds IT
