I was asked one day by a non-electrician if I was comfortable working "hot" circuits. My reply to him was, "The day that I am comfortable working hot circuits, is the day I put my tools down for good." Unfortunately with my job comes a lot more live work than I would like to tackle on a daily basis. I deal with a lot of 240/480 systems on street lighting that is worked hot to troubleshoot the endless problems with them. We have already shut down entire buildings to do work on electrical systems and where ever possible shutdown the circuits to be worked on. One problem we run into, is the incompetent work of our precursors. Constantly running into white wires that are hot and hot wires that are taped off in a box. I guess when it comes to this discussion, I am all for shutting the power down whenever possible. There are times when it is just not feasible and at those times all due care and safety concerns must be addressed.
