Can you get a shock from a white wire?

Answer 1

YES the white wire can shock. There are a few reasons why it might:

1) the white wire is actually connected to a switch. When the installer connects the white wire from the switch to the light, the National Electric Code requires the white wire to be "hot", and to be marked to indicate that it is hot. Sometimes this doesn't happen. The problem comes later when Joe homeowner replaces the light fixture. He sees the white wire with a black mark or maybe not, and connects the white wire to all of the other white wires. When the switch is turned on, the black wire that he placed on the other side of the switch connects to the white wire and trips the breaker. When Mr. Homeowner checks it out, touching the white wire gives him a shock.

2) The white wire returns the current to the source of the circuit. When the white wire is shared with two circuits, It returns the current from both circuits to the panel. When someone (even a professional) turns off only one of the circuit breakers to these circuits, the white wire still carries the current from the second LIVE circuit. If the person is replacing a receptacle withonly one of these circuit breakersoff, he or she could touch the white wire (called an open neutral) and get a shock from the returning current from the second circuit.