Is water on the outside of an electric kettle dangerous? When filling our electric kettle with tap water, I’m carefully avoiding any water trickling down the side. Others in our household are less careful.

If we let water run down the side, will it damage the kettle and reduce its life? Is there any other reason it could be harmful?
Kettles often drip a bit when they pour, and that runs down the outside. So a kettle has to be designed for a little water on the outside (though clearly not for a complete soaking).

If you have a shiny kettle and like to keep it that way, limescale will be increased by getting it wet more often, but that's the only real harm, and anyway is easily fixed. 

I prefer to turn the tap off before removing the kettle though, because it's convenient the way my kitchen is laid out. Otherwise I get a bit of splashing near the sink that I might not want.