ECN Electrical Forum
Discussion Forums for Electricians, Inspectors and Related Professionals

Photo by Virgil Kelly, aka "sparky66wv"
I keep picturing a woman talking on this phone holding on to a toddler's hand, the woman busy talking, the toddler getting curious about the outlet box... By the way, the receptacle is not a GFCI, just a "Decora" style, and there's a whole row of these feeding vending machines. The receptacle is hot according to my volt probe... Besides, with no cover, a kid grabs the line side and a GFCI won't help. Plenty of other "minor violations" too...

We see this kind of thing much too often, huh? Most people never even realize the hazards. For the price of a w/p blank cover, a life could be saved. It's up to us "in the know" to point things like this out to shopkeepers and the like. Most I've talked to seem pretty receptive, others don't care until you say the magic words (law suit, fire hazard, etc.) And I'm not just out drumming up work, I usually refer them to someone. In a way, it's our duty to educate the ignorant public. Oops, I'm lecturing again.

....the least resistive path being viens and arteries, resulting in a higher rate of amputations due to burnt out vasulature.....
not good......
Virgil, you sure know how to caption a pix!

Follow-up:

This is the the same store as the "Hazardous Location" photo in this section.

Finally found the owner on site and suggested the improvements. I explained that there were many electricians in the area that would be happy to fix their problems, to show I wasn't trying to drum up business.

Her answer..."We have our own electrician... they've been that way for 15 years without any trouble..."

What she doesn't understand is that it only takes once. Some people have no conscience.

Tom