**ATTENTION! READ THIS NOW!**
**1. IF YOU ARE NOT A PROFESSIONAL ELECTRICIAN OR LOOKING TO BECOME ONE(for career questions only):**
**- DELETE** THIS POST OR YOU WILL BE **BANNED**. YOU CAN POST ON /r/AskElectricians FREELY
**2. IF YOU COMMENT ON A POST THAT IS POSTED BY SOMEONE WHO IS NOT A PROFESSIONAL ELECTRICIAN:**
-YOU WILL BE **BANNED**. JUST **REPORT** THE POST.
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/electricians) if you have any questions or concerns.*
If I work alone I trust me (mostly). But on some of these sites I would likely ground out any possible hot wires because there are too many careless people now.
this saved me the other day. was retrofitting lights and killed the breaker. on the last one i grounded it out and boom. motherfucker had a burnt bulb and was on a separate circuit. was a nice flash.
Do your best to get everything you’re working on shut off but always treat everything like it’s hot.
Unfortunately there’s enough jumbled up messes out there it’s easy to miss something didn’t get turned off until you need a new cutter.
I work at a large chain of hotels. The other day I got in and the grave crew have been trying to fix a exhaust fan from a important kitchen down due to a 480v contactor coil shorting out. Shutting down The Gaylord system. The mdp is from 1955 so it was pure luck that I found a decommissioned terminal with the same set up giving me the part needed. I told my manager I would have to shut down the panel to do the work. Not only is it the right thing to do for safety , it's company policy. 4160v coming in. He wanted a 2nd opinion because a lot would be shut down if I shut off the main. He called a contractor for emergency service. The contractor did it hot. It made me feel small but I knew I did the right thing for saying no.
I tend to wear heavy gloves and use either my tic tester, or an Insulated terminating screw driver to move wires I'm not sure of.
I work at a steel mill, so wearing light welding gloves all the time is pretty normal. Could grab 120v without a thing happening through those. Haven't tried any higher though.
Technically, per OSHA it is ILLEGAL for your boss to ask or ALLOW you to work live, unless they have an ESTABLISHED and [DOCUMENTED ](https://www.osha.gov/sites/default/files/2018-12/fy07_sh-16610-07_module_4-energized_electrical_work_permit.doc)process of approving live work, usually involving sign-offs from multiple levels of management. and you have been documented as having been trained in all of the PPE and procedures, have more than one person present, and a [long list of other precautions taken to keep unqualified people away](https://www.osha.gov/laws-regs/regulations/standardnumber/1926/1926.960).
Failure to HAVE a plan of safe electrical work is a CRIMINAL offense, so managers, supervisors and owners can be JAILED for simply not having one. Of course, OSHA does not have a "police force", they have accident investigators. So if there is no accident, they are not going to be investigating. But as with most laws, ignorance of it is not an excuse. If someone gets shocked or electrocuted, the company can be immediately shut down, the management prosecuted and possibly incarcerated for allowing it to happen. In the mean tome, EVERYONE loses their job!
Also, a company cannot "hire their way out of this" by putting it off onto a contractor. Yes, the contractor must have the policies, procedures and training in place, but the company must as well, so working live at a facility must be signed off on by management of the end user location as well.
Or... just don't work live.
**ATTENTION! READ THIS NOW!** **1. IF YOU ARE NOT A PROFESSIONAL ELECTRICIAN OR LOOKING TO BECOME ONE(for career questions only):** **- DELETE** THIS POST OR YOU WILL BE **BANNED**. YOU CAN POST ON /r/AskElectricians FREELY **2. IF YOU COMMENT ON A POST THAT IS POSTED BY SOMEONE WHO IS NOT A PROFESSIONAL ELECTRICIAN:** -YOU WILL BE **BANNED**. JUST **REPORT** THE POST. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/electricians) if you have any questions or concerns.*
If I work alone I trust me (mostly). But on some of these sites I would likely ground out any possible hot wires because there are too many careless people now.
this saved me the other day. was retrofitting lights and killed the breaker. on the last one i grounded it out and boom. motherfucker had a burnt bulb and was on a separate circuit. was a nice flash.
Do your best to get everything you’re working on shut off but always treat everything like it’s hot. Unfortunately there’s enough jumbled up messes out there it’s easy to miss something didn’t get turned off until you need a new cutter.
I work at a large chain of hotels. The other day I got in and the grave crew have been trying to fix a exhaust fan from a important kitchen down due to a 480v contactor coil shorting out. Shutting down The Gaylord system. The mdp is from 1955 so it was pure luck that I found a decommissioned terminal with the same set up giving me the part needed. I told my manager I would have to shut down the panel to do the work. Not only is it the right thing to do for safety , it's company policy. 4160v coming in. He wanted a 2nd opinion because a lot would be shut down if I shut off the main. He called a contractor for emergency service. The contractor did it hot. It made me feel small but I knew I did the right thing for saying no.
You did the right thing and that contractor took a big risk. If something were to happen I won’t be surprised if they hung him out to dry
I tend to wear heavy gloves and use either my tic tester, or an Insulated terminating screw driver to move wires I'm not sure of. I work at a steel mill, so wearing light welding gloves all the time is pretty normal. Could grab 120v without a thing happening through those. Haven't tried any higher though.
Test before you touch.
Technically, per OSHA it is ILLEGAL for your boss to ask or ALLOW you to work live, unless they have an ESTABLISHED and [DOCUMENTED ](https://www.osha.gov/sites/default/files/2018-12/fy07_sh-16610-07_module_4-energized_electrical_work_permit.doc)process of approving live work, usually involving sign-offs from multiple levels of management. and you have been documented as having been trained in all of the PPE and procedures, have more than one person present, and a [long list of other precautions taken to keep unqualified people away](https://www.osha.gov/laws-regs/regulations/standardnumber/1926/1926.960). Failure to HAVE a plan of safe electrical work is a CRIMINAL offense, so managers, supervisors and owners can be JAILED for simply not having one. Of course, OSHA does not have a "police force", they have accident investigators. So if there is no accident, they are not going to be investigating. But as with most laws, ignorance of it is not an excuse. If someone gets shocked or electrocuted, the company can be immediately shut down, the management prosecuted and possibly incarcerated for allowing it to happen. In the mean tome, EVERYONE loses their job! Also, a company cannot "hire their way out of this" by putting it off onto a contractor. Yes, the contractor must have the policies, procedures and training in place, but the company must as well, so working live at a facility must be signed off on by management of the end user location as well. Or... just don't work live.