What's our policy regarding safety related issues without engineering context?

Question

Sometimes, there are questions bluntly in the order of "What happens when I stick a nail into wall socket while holding it?"

• does-this-strategy-for-crossing-electrified-water-work deleted
• Does a dangling wire really electrocute me if I'm standing in water?
• Live wire and ground question (this question triggered me asking on meta)

One could argue these questions concern electrical safety, which is an inherent part of electrical engineering.
However, in most of those questions, I only see the safety related part, without the covering engineering part. I feel some of those questions⁽¹⁾ are more sensation related than EE related.

So, I wondered: What is the policy regarding safety questions without covering engineering case/problem/schematic?

(I exclude questions related to X1/Y1 caps, how to explain safety related standards, etc)

⁽¹⁾ in general, not specific refering to linked questions above

Answer 1

My view is that asking about concepts of electrical engineering are on-topic. For example, one could ask how a capacitor functions, with no other context. It should be on-topic as a means to cover topics that are "the basics." Without this tenet, all questions would necessarily have to include some sort of engineering project or goal, which is certainly not always the case.

Electrical safety is a necessary topic that involves understanding the physics of electrical systems. If we (as a community) can provide resources to help others understand how they function, and how to be safe about it, then I consider that worth keeping on-topic.

Some examples:

• Not safety-related, but certainly conceptual: What exactly is voltage?
• Conceptual and safety-related: How does earthing work when earth is dry?
• A similar safety question: Does a dangling wire really electrocute me if I'm standing in water?

There may be a fuzzy line between someone asking a safety question with good intentions and someone asking with a different motive (sensationalism; a clearly unsafe project; or malicious purpose). The site's community-based moderation is a relatively good mechanism to reject the latter.