Switch Replace Question

[Ralph Mowery]

Turning the light switch off is fine if you know that no one can turn it back on , either by having it in sight, or some kind of locking device. Even putting a piece of tape over it with a tag to let others know you are working on it.

I know an electrician that was going to do some work in a church. He pulled the electrical meter out and layed it on the ground. That should have killed all electrical power in the building. He started working and got a big shock. He went outside and found out a man from the power company had came by and noticed the meter on the ground , and had plugged it back in.

[Tony Hwang]

Hmmm, If I am working on a circuit I have a habit of putting up a sign on a piece of paper on the breaker or switch plate warning anyone not to turn it on.

[The Daring Dufas]

I thought I was clear when I wrote "as long as I have control of the switch" and I put "it" instead of "is" when I wrote "treat everything like it's energized, even if I know it's off". Whenever I pull a meter, I always call the power company first as any sane person would. One of the biggest reasons is to prevent any suspicion by the power company that theft of power is going on. I always call them to let them know to put a new seal on the power meter, if not, a lock will be put on the meter and that will make it very inconvenient to do any more work because one would have to wait for a lineman or meter reader to come by and unlock the meter housing. Lockout tags and locking accessories are not that expensive for safety and are mandatory in most industrial plants. When I worked on Army Corps Of Engineers projects, there were safety inspectors for both The Corps and my employer checking out everything that was going on. One of my tasks was repairing power cords that carpenters sawed in two. ^_^

TDD