Reply from: Dan Lawrence PE
Agreed ... to a point. Whether or not the company is putting that kind of pressure on the electrician (certainly immoral and unethical, and illegal in the States), the electrician is bound by his own rules of engagement, not to mention his own safety and life, to assure himself of the status of the circuit under ALL circumstances, not just SOME occasions, and only when "convenient" to the Owner/Manager. To proceed with work on a live circuit (which all electricians have done and will probably continue to do in the future, right or wrong and in spite of the laws and good, common horse sense) is rolling the dice with a one-way ticket to trouble in hand. The electrician still owns his own life, and the company is at the very least ethically and morally bound (again, legally in the States) to comply with the safety measures required of and by the electrician. No excuses, no conveniences. If the company doesn't comply, the electricians of this world need to "sack up" and have the conviction (read that, cajones) to walk away from the work in lieu of surrendering their lives. In that vein, I find no good excuse for the electrician to obviously NOT have at least checked the circuit with any of the myriad pocket voltage testers to AT LEAST have raised the CAUTION FLAG of awareness before diving into the work task.
Was the fine too small? Absolutely. But, then, it appears that the valuation of a person's life has a different setpoint in different places, eh? I feel deeply for the family left to pick up the pieces and go forward. My only hope is that there is a lesson to be learned by all who read this and take heed therefore. | 
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