Why isn?t the power turned off?

Status
Not open for further replies.
I thought this might give more insight, found this on another forum.


II. WHY ISN?T THE POWER TURNED OFF?



LACK OF PROPER TRAINING. Many people are just not aware of the inherent dangers as noted above. Victims and witnesses of electrical accidents are often amazed at the violent and explosive nature of electrical energy, the fire balls, bright flashes, acrid smoke and hot molten metal. Often safety training of electricians is done on an informal basis and may be done by instructors who have already developed bad habits. Sometimes unqualified and unlicensed people work on electrical circuits, and safety training is given lip service, or there is no training at all. It is essential that safety training be emphasized to preclude any such complacency. There are courses in electrical safety provided by state and community colleges, by the IBEW and other labor groups, and by various contractors? associations. Industry management can promote increased safety by requiring more of their employees to attend such formal safety courses.



THE ELECTRICAL SERVICE "CAN?T" BE INTERRUPTED. Countless electrical accidents have been the result of this philosophy. Invariably, the accidents cause major shut downs, outages, and equipment replacement. Thus, what could not be shut down is shut down! With detailed planning, almost any piece of electrical equipment can be taken out of service. While this planning may take additional time and involve additional costs, the risks of not doing it may be an accident that can result in massive equipment damage, personal injury, or death. The time and cost of an accident will far exceed the time and cost of a properly planned outage.



THE JOB MUST BE DONE QUICKLY. When the pressures of time dominate any work activity, mistakes and accidents invariably happen. Caution and good judgment give way to haste. Again, a resulting accident will inevitably take more time to resolve.
 

emahler

Senior Member
i can state from my own personal experiences....as I became more proficient in this trade, and more confident in my abilities...the more I shut off power, no matter what it was feeding...

I think our current status of the industry is to blame. Due to economic constraints, you are less likely to have an experienced J-man and apprentice on trouble/service calls...

what you typically have is inexperienced j-men. a lot of this has to do with the difference in payscale between a construction electrician and a service electrician.

another contributing factor is the licensing laws....in NJ, a guy spends 5 yrs installing electric in new construction for a contractor...then he gets his license and goes out on his own...as a one man shop, with little capital, he goes after service work...and you know the rest of the story...


these days, if we don't need the power on for testing purposes, i prefer it be turned off...does this happen 100% of the time, unfortunately no...but it happens more than not...
 

cornbread

Senior Member
Working at a chemical plant we have historically worked equipment hot, however last year we implemented NFPA 70E requirement for an electrical hot work permit (signed off by management) and have reduced the hot work by approx. 80%. We still have issues working on 120V circuits. Too many old mind sets that 120V is not dangerous. I have used this forum to make many a point with my fellow electricians and I?m happy to say our electrical awareness and safety have shown significant improvement.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top