Wouldn’t a fault to ground in a piece of equipment being powered up not have a return path back to the source?
Actually, there probably enough leakage current via capacitance coupling to produce enough current to shock or kill a person. Without the bond, there will never be enough current to trip any overcurrent protective device.
Plus without a reference to earth, the output voltages can float anywhere above or below earth potential. This could result in the failing of insulation in extreme circumstances.
