I mostly work alone (w/o another electrician) and frequently do "hot" work because it is often very difficult to find the breaker/fuse that supplies the circuit. If I can't find the switch/breaker/fuse I ALWAYS wear rubber meterman's gloves and safety glasses. Fellow electricians where I work frequently work live without any protection up to and including 480v. The company bought them rubber gloves and glove bags. One said that it was nice they got the bags, since they were never going to wear the gloves and it gave them a place to keep them.
A part of the problem is that they were issued lineman's gloves rather than meterman's gloves. With the meterman's gloves and leather protectors I can change #18 wire and use orange wirenuts with little difficulty.
