I sang in choirs for nearly 25 years. The scariest thing about it was that everyone thought that the way to test a microphone was to tap firmly & directly on the diaphragm.
They also thought they could adjust or move equipment without muting the channel on the mixer.
It is absolutely crazy to tap your mic when you know that booms are bound to reverberate from your powered-up PA system.
Microphones amplify human speech. They are not drums. Why not test them by speaking or singing in front of them?
I kept telling them that one day they would damage either a speaker, an amp, or someone’s perfectly good hearing.