I just talked to a friend of mine in the HVAC field and he had a beef with a HI who made a claim in a report that he had taken a temp reading (the old return air vs the supply air and got a 15 deg. split) and called it out as “needing a charge”. This was on a two year old Heat pump. (1) you can’t tell from what he did if it needs a charge or not, could be it had too much charge but the point is; he was troubleshooting and doing diagnostic work using a formula NOT recognized by any HVAC guy I know.
The HI is not a NACHI guy but a member of the other august group. First off how he determined all of this from that piss ant test is beyond me but I digress.
I suggested to him to start coming into the board and having a little training. He is a superb tech and he is a Board certified teacher for the State of Florida. He teaches HVAC and I hope he takes me up on it. There is so much misinformation about HVAC (and other stuff) that is being taught in some of the HI schools and books.
Pierre, from a quality perspective why would we need to be proactive to a problem that may not exist?
Now I am not saying that you should not be safe working around electricty, I just have not heard of many HI’s getting electrocuted taking the panel cover off.
Electrocution (death) is not the only injury that may occur. I would bet all of your money 
, that there are injuries that go unreported. Being proactive not only helps to prevent them, or at least keep them at a minimum, but it also makes your members of the industry more professional.
Not only that, but removing a panel cover from a live panel is a violation. It is a violation no matter how you look at it. The OSHA requirement, requires that when examining electrical equipment the power is REQUIRED to be deenergized. The only reason for not deenergizing, is if it will create more of a hazard. I can tell you that for dwelling units, there is no hazard that would be considered more of a hazard than the work itself.
Every time anyone…anyone removes a panel cover without deenergizing the power is in violation. The owners of the company will pooh-pooh this, that is until the moment they receive the fine/possible lawsuit.
If you were to have people following you around on your inspection (homeowner, buyer, realtor) there is a FLASH ZONE around the equipment that they are not allow to be in…are you aware of that. Imagine that lawsuit:shock:
Just some info. Of course we can hide our heads in the sand, but what is sticking up?
I guess if I had employees OSHA may have some relevance, I don’t.
Just asking for some metrics Pierre so I can decide where my safety training dollars/time would be the best utilized.
So far driving to work and ladder safety seem more important.
But thanks for the INFO.
“So far driving to work and ladder safety seem more important.”
I have heard this type of response before, from the uninformed and uncaring individuals.
A little story that I will keep brief.
An associate who is an electrical contractor contacted me about a job he was intending to do. I read him the riot act as I did here and he chose not to follow my advice. Long story short his luck ran out (he has been around and in business 23 years) and now he is facing losing everything he has due to a choice made to try and save some time and money. It is also destroying his life, he wants to jump from a bridge…
My simple, but difficult task is to help eliminate this potential downfall. Safety is easy once it becomes a habit.
Pierre,
I would LOVE to hear more details about this EC…without getting too personal because of his/her privacy…But as an electrical contractor myself I would love to hear it…if you ever can get a moment to E-Mail me or PM me.
Interesting insite…I think we preach safety very much here and you are right…it is MUCH better to be proactive than reactive when it comes to safety and learning safe procedures…My guys actually sit in with me on a monthly basis to discuss safety issues and so on.
Was it a bank job?
No one said not to be safe, I am just curious as to how often people are injured taking of the panel cover on residential units?
Luckily you came along Pierre with your hard hitting fact based **Anecdotal Stories **to shed light on the subject.
As your associate that knows you would not take your advice why should I.
That story definitley screams electrical safety.
The associate who did not heed mine and industry advice, even when he reached out for it, is now in a world of hurt. He would love to turn back the hand of time, but cannot. He is going to lose everything he worked for in his career, plus.
Not everyone who works will get hurt or have someone get hurt. There are always percentages. With that said, I hope no one is in the wrong percentage, at least no one I know. It seems the longer I am in this industry, the more people I know are getting stung. His case is extreme, others I know have been fined… but the results are not just money, the anguish and suffering during the ordeal is usually long lasting, even sometimes driving people out of the business.
Choose to do it whatever way you will, but if a person chooses not to be as professional as is possible (part of proper training), he has no right to talk about others who are not professional in whatever way.
What’s the current status of this situation.
Safety Hazards and Safe Inspection Procedures for Electrical and Home Inspectors at Residential Electric Panels
I have always liked this. It is pretty clear HI’s are observing the system and not performing any *work *on the system.