I am a licensed journeyman and in the electrical industry for 37 years. I was recently on a job and received a citation for removing the panel cover (but not the dead front cover) on a 480v 3 phase panel. We were in a trouble shooting mode tracing some conductors that we believed were no longer in use. The panel was the MDP and did not have a main breaker (six breakers max). The inspector said somebody could reach their fingers around the dead front and come in contact with the breakers or bus. I had to have the power company pull the fuses at the pole on primary and shut down the whole plant in order to reinstall the cover. The inspector also had a problem with the adjacent trough cover I had removed. There were no exposed terminals just insulated conductors passing thru. How is this any different than removing an LB cover or open conductors on a cable tray? The way I see it we put a linesman's safety in jeopardy pulling the fuses and plant employees in the dark, during the outage. Don't you think we have gone a little to far when we have to shutdown a plant and call the power company in order to remove a panel cover? I am very safety consciences, but after 37 years I should be qualified to remove and reinstall a panel cover. Just wanted some thoughts.
I believe (and Zog would be a better source of information for this) that based on the information that you provided, that the inspector was correct, to an extent. First off, the power does not need to be turned off IF all that you are doing is troubleshooting AND you follow the correct procedures (wearing the appropriate level of PPE and also having warning signs and barriers in place to warn the "uninformed" that live electrical testing is taking place.
Once you cross the line from simple testing and troubleshooting to actual "live work" then specific procedures must be followed. As iwire has pointed out many times in the past, there are very FEW cases in which the power cannot be turned off. In this case, could power be turned off, or could the work have been re-scheduled to take place on a weekend or during a time when the plant was not in operation? Most certainly yes.
What's 70E say about this? (I really need to read that document).
And, oh yea, I too think some of this is getting excessive.
Yes, you do need to read the 70E. Do you really think that this is excessive?? Tell that to the family of someone that was electrocuted because the proper procedures regarding electrical safey were not being followed.
Was this a plant inspector or a local electrical inspector? I thought PA mostly used inspection services.
I am really interested in hearing what kind of "inspector" this was.