Depending on the type of gear (i.e., switchboard construction versus switchgear construction) and the manufacturer, you may be able to get a main breaker with a "maintenance mode" feature. That will allow for a faster trip time, and therefore a lower arc flash energy, and can be manually selected whenever you need to "interact" with the board. This feature essentially disables any selective coordination you might have established, so that a short circuit in a 100 watt 120 volt light bulb might cause the main breaker to trip. But you must accept that risk, during the time that maintenance is being done, and you must manually return the main breaker to its normal trip mode after the maintenance is finished.
There are other features available that can reduce the arc flash hazard. There is an arc quenching cubicle, and there is a board designed to cause all arc energy to be forced upwards (i.e., blowing off the top of the board, but not harming a person standing in front of the board). In addition to remote operators, there are tools that provide an arc shield (kind of like an umbrella) that protects the worker (standing behind the shield) while operating the equipment. Check with the manufacturer, to see what they offer.