A few years back, we hired an electrician to do some relatively small things for us—things I could do like replacing light switches with timer switches and the like, but didn’t have time to do. The thing that really blew me away was when I asked him if he wanted me to shut off the power at the breaker box and he said no and did all the work with live current in the wires. Yes, I know, gloves, rubber soled shoes, he was fine, but it still was somewhat terrifying to watch.

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left-struck 2 hours ago | parent | next [-]

I know some electricians who would call this man an idiot. PPE is for when a hazard cannot be avoided, which in this case it could easily have been avoided. Though of course the safety culture and laws differ from place to place.

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userbinator 5 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Have done this too (and am not a professional electrician either) --- you use insulated tools and make sure you stay out of the way of any possible current paths.

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medler 4 hours ago | parent [-]

Why not just shut off the breaker though? What’s the harm in that?

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zxexz 3 hours ago | parent | next [-]

Live feedback without additional expensive and buggy test tools. May be marginal, but if you are trying to guarantee a certain income/payrate, it’s easy to take shortcuts in a system you’re comfortable in.

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userbinator 2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Other devices on the same circuit that I didn't want to disturb.

	▲	MisterMower an hour ago \| parent [-]
		Like what? A deep freeze? Genuinely curious. If this were commercial it would make more sense.

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Shitty-kitty 4 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

For effect. You want the client to feel that they got their money's worth and it wasn't something they could have done themselves.

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theteapot 6 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

[flagged]

	▲	tecleandor 5 hours ago \| parent [-]
		Until a breaker doesn't work properly.

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koolba 5 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

> Yes, I know, gloves, rubber soled shoes, he was fine, but it still was somewhat terrifying to watch.

What gloves? For 110V? Bah!

Unless you’re a complete idiot and try to cut both wires at once with a conductive cutter, nothing happens when you snip them one by one.

And selection bias means we don’t see those guys around for long.

	▲	mecsred 5 hours ago \| parent [-]
		1. you can definitely get electrocuted snipping a single wire with insulated ppe, just brushing up against a wall can form a circuit. 2. You are thinking of survivorship bias, selection bias is a different thing.