It sounds to me the policy is formulated without any consideration for the actual hazard. PPE is required for any work in the panel if the panel is energized. To don PPE once the breakers are installed and the wire terminated is closing the barn door after the horse has run off. It is true that some panels have fault levels high enough that PPE might be required to manually operate the breakers but for many panels that is the only thing you can do without PPE on an energized panel. All is predicated on there being an arc flash hazard greater than 0 and in some cases a denim shirt and safety glasses is all that is required if the arc hazard is low enough.
