The steel armour on a cable isn't only mechanical protection — it's a safety conductor. If the cable is damaged and a live conductor touches the armour, the armour has to carry that fault current back to earth so the protective device trips quickly. That only happens if the armour is solidly earthed, normally through the cable gland at each end, which clamps the armour wires and bonds them to the earthed gland plate or enclosure. Unearthed armour does the opposite of protecting: under a fault it can sit at a dangerous voltage along the whole cable run, waiting for someone to touch it. This is why gland selection and proper fitting deserve far more attention than they usually get on site — the gland is part of the earthing system, not just a cable clamp.
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