Good food for thought here.
I must confess that I like to be able to see and feel what I'm doing as best I can, so I tend to keep protective gear to a minimum.
I had to wear my 1000V gloves just a couple of days ago to do a live service changeover, but they were off as soon as the cables were prepared and I could transfer to insulated tools (also rated to 1000V) for the final tightening etc.
I must confess I've never thought about donning the gear just to put a meter on 240V 1-ph or 415V 3-ph for a test.
Maybe I'm showing my electronics background where even when working on a 2 or 3kV power supply it just isn't practical to work that way due to the available space. Admittedly those supplies are of more limited current capacity, so a big arc-flash isn't likely, but with several amps continuous available, they're certainly capable of delivering a lethal jolt.
I don't like the claustrophobic feeling they give to breathing, but I'll use masks for attic work where loose fiberglass insulation is involved.
