John,
Unfortinately its hard to get a yes or no anwser to questions from OHSA. In my opinion should there be an accident your company will have to justify why things were not shut down. If your employer thinks about it that way it may be eaiser to get a shut down. Also a short circuit may cause longer down time than a short outage or moving to a temporary source.
It is also my opinion that that ppe is no substitute for a shut down. Remember your safety is most important to you. If you do not feel comfortable with the task don't do it. I would rather find a new job that valued my safety and judgement. I know thats easy for me to say so take care of yourself out there.
Jeff
