earth ground that helps protect people from electric shock in case of appliance faults.
If an internal fault occurs and metal parts of an appliance become energized, the grounding system directs the electrical current safely to the earth. This prevents the appliance’s metal casing from remaining energized and posing a shock hazard.
Proper grounding also helps circuit breakers or fuses to trip promptly, disconnecting power and preventing fire or injury. Because of its safety importance, it is never advisable to remove the grounding pin from plugs to fit ungrounded outlets.
