ECN Forum Forums Safety Discussion and News Occupational Safety Discussion I'm a MAN, I work 480V Live!!

Guys,
A lot of our gear here, is enclosed in either ABS or PVC plastics.
The conduit is usually rigid PVC.
However, in the US, boxes, conduits and the like are all metallic.
Grab a wire, while leaning (off of a ladder) against a metal enclosure with bare fore-arms and no gloves and see what happens.
Sure the fault current will not kill you, but you will end up with nasty internal burns to your arm, probably even a flash burn to the face after you (if you can let go) heave the wire back into the box.
Don't take any chances guys.
Work dead, don't be dead.

Some people get confused. Testing and Troubleshooting a live circuit is way different then actually working on a live circuit. I might pull a control wire (up to 120VAC) on a live circuit, but when I need to do something on a power circuit, I alwayz kill the power...............

Except there's a big difference between a lineman and a "cowboy".

The lineman KNOWS the dangers of working live. He has - or should have - PPE (masks, gloves, a suit of some kind I assume). The tools are rated for that kind of work.

The cowboy, on the other hand, is probably working in jeans and a teeshirt, barehanded with cheap tools from the dollar store....and he thinks he's "The Man".