POP! I have learnt a lesson!

[CAWORK]

Earlier today, I went round to change the pullcord in my sisters new house which was faulty(been dismantled by someone and not put together properly and wouldn't work after).

I switched the mains off when unscrewing the cover from this switch,had to go out and buy another.

Put old switch back turned power back on, went out came back, started to take the old one down and I cut the end of the cable to nice fresh wire..POP! (MCB tripped though)I only forgot to turn the power back off!! what an idiot...

Mind you, most people I know who do electrical work have done this at some point.

 

[GaryMo]

I would guess similar has happened to most who carry out electrical work for a living. Replacing £25 side cutters after the event gives the biggest jolt though!

 

[plugwash]

I remember once stripping the outer sheath off a live cable using a metal bodied stanley knife. Luckilly I remembered that the power was still on before I started stripping the inner cores.

 

[RF Lighting]

I got caught out a few years ago.

I was working in an office corridor. I had been sent to replace some old fittings with new fluorescents.

When I turned up the corridor was in darkness, so I assumed the lights were switched off.

I whipped the old fitting down, and fixed the new fitting up. When I started wiring it up, the striiped ends were a little too long for the new connectors, so I snipped the ends off with my cutters.

Thats about the time I realised that all the bulbs in the corridor had gone, and I needed to buy a new pair of side cutters.

I was perhaps the wakeup call I needed. I had not been working on my own very long, and had got a little complacent.

You'd be amazed quite how often I prove dead, and lock off these days. I haven't had a shock or blown up a pair of cutters since (touch wood), so it seems to be a good habit to be in.