Steve,
That's fine that you work these circuits hot until someone gets hurt or killed. Then you not only have to deal with the injury or death but also a "wanton and willful" citation from OSHA. There a number of larger electrical contracting firms that have notified their clients that they will not work anything hot, with the only exception being the necessary hot troubleshooting. Clients that did not want the circuits shut off were told to find another contractor.
Note that your 277 volt switch example is also a code violation. See 380-8(b).
Don(resqcapt19)
