Being more cautious

[Tyman]

I have decided to be more cautious and safety minded at work after too many close calls this month.

Yesterday, I went out on a water heater replacement. The water heater was in a concrete depression appox. 4' x 4' with a clogged floor drain with about 1" of standing water.

I decided shut off the disconnect switch beside the heater and start disconnecting the wiring from the tank.

I grabbed the wire nuts and then I got that funny feeling that said to check the electrical again. So I did with my meter, and the power was on.:eek:

Shut the power off at the main and opened the disconnect box. Turns out they just used the disconnect box as a junction box. That was done by the power company.

One of the things I am always mindful of is time. The company time and the customers time. Now, I am going to start being more concerned with just playing it safe. It will get done when it gets done. I'm going home to my family.

[HVAC HAWK]

my co workers hate it when i tell them they are doing some thing wrong .the best is ladders if they are standing on the 2nd to top step or if they take a steep ladder and lean it on a wall and go up it . i remind them that we have some one off now for 7 mouths with 2 shattered legs because the ladder he was on was not tied off and and he fell 12ft .they say he may never be able to stand on a ladder again .

so i always look to see if they are doing things safe so if some thing does happen it will not be because i looked the other way .so i dont care if they dont like me telling them to stop doing it

[boillerman]

I once checked an electric heater out that wasn't working. I checked with my meter for the 240, and it read 0. On a whim I checked a leg to ground, and lo and behold there was 120V! To both legs! Someone had rewired at the breaker box into two single breakers instead of a double and had put them on the same pole. I couldn't believe it. I was so glad I had checked that, and even though I doubt I'll ever see it again, I now use one of those little testers the electricians use to see if a wire is hot.

Needless to say, noone in the home owned up to it.

[NHMaster3015]

Safety is one of those things you really only get one chance at.

[Australian Plumber Josh]

I am not an electrician. I hate the fact you cant see it or smell it.

The only thing i know about elctrical is:

Never assume that the power is off just because the switch/ breaker is in the off postion.