Have you ever felt a static shock when you’ve touched a surface?

It can be a strange sensation to feel and you’ve probably wondered why they happen in the first place.

Maybe you’ve had multiple in the space of a day or two and wonder how to stop it from happening.

To help you understand more about electric shocks, Birmingham University has explained why we get them and how to avoid them.

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What is a static shock and why do we get them?

You might experience a shock when you touch metal things including a door handle or a filing cabinet for example.

Birmingham University explains: “Static electricity is generated whenever two materials are in contact with each other. All materials are made up of electrically charged atoms. In the universe there are equal amounts of negative electrical charge (electrons) and positive charge (protons). These generally stay in balance at every location.

“However, when two materials are in contact, some of the charges redistribute by moving from one material to another. This leaves an excess of positive charge on one material and an equal negative charge on the other. When the materials move apart, each takes its own charge with it. One material becomes charged positively and the other negatively.

“If the materials are able to conduct electricity away the charges will dissipate and eventually recombine. In this case, static electricity effects may be too small to be noticed. However, if the charges are separated faster than the material can dissipate them, the amount of electrostatic charge builds up. Eventually a high voltage, and the effects of static electricity, may be noticed.”

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Modern shoes can have highly insulating plastic soles and as a person walks, static charges are able to build up on the soles of their shoes, especially if the floor is insulating too.

Birmingham University explains: “The charge on the shoes soles induces static electrical charge on your body, and this charge appears as a high voltage. Under severe conditions, up to 15,000 Volts have been recorded. It is quite common to experience 5,000V.

“In fact, many people do not feel a shock from a static electricity discharge less than about 2,000-4,000V. If you are indoors, the point can be proved by walking around for a while with no shoes on - you will probably not experience static shocks.”

Are static shocks a danger to your health?

Electrostatic discharges offer little risk to a person’s health and in most cases, receiving electric shocks is just an uncomfortable feeling.

Birmingham University says that the biggest risk that a shock could cause is for you to have an accidental injury, for example, if you moved your arm suddenly and it hit something.

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How to stop static shocks

If you’ve not managed to work out exactly why you’re having the shocks, you might have to experiment and use trial and error to get to the bottom of it.

You could ask colleague or friend to do the same things as you do in your room and if they don’t get shocked, something specific could be causing it like carpet or a chair covering. Do the same work in a colleague’s room and see if you’re shocked – if you’re not materials in the room could be different.

If possible, Birmingham University recommends working barefoot to see if you can stop or reduce the shocks but be careful when doing so. Wearing different shoes could also help reduce the shocks.

If these simple tasks don’t work, you might need to use a humidifier to increase air humidity to 40-50% or treat floors with static dissipative treatments.

A different floor covering may be needed or certain items of equipment might need to be ‘earthed’.