Work on a high voltage equipment.  our company policy is not to work an arc hazard Beyond  issued PPE. we're supposed to be doing work on these units that have these f****** labels saying no safe PPE exists.

I tell my boss, "man I don't think we should be working on this per these labels" and he's like, "the customer told me that the labels are not right and it's okay and there's another label on the unit somewhere that says it is only level 0 you can go by that, we always did it thus blah blah blah."

ultimately I dug in my heels pointed out that I could get written up for working outside of policy and that I can't just arbitrarily blow off the labels even though I myself suspect that the study was flawed. (Its Probably level 4) that still, one point on the secondary bus work cannot be a substantially different hazard level than another point on the same bus work.  

I mean I do not think that these units could vaporize me, but my concern is that if I get vaporized and my wife tries to sue whoever they're going to tell her too bad so sad but your husband was violating company policy or OSHA regulations or whatever so it's not our fault. Sure i have life ins but that is if god strikes me dead, not if i get killed risking my neck more for other peoples profits.  ultimately I had to call the f****** safety officer and then my boss's boss got involved in when my boss was trying to tell me again that it was okay to do this work his boss jumped and shut him down. Now my boss probably hates me. Jesus Christ. anyway I wrote an email kind of explaining away how the situation got to this point saying it was all a misunderstanding then trying to cover for my boss to make him not look so bad. I hope he appreciates it I don't know.

Just love it how they pressure you to violate policy, OSHA regs, all reason, so they can make the revenue on questionable jobs while indemnifying themselves in case your wife gets widowed.  

Stresses me the fuck out trying to manage the work hazards, legal liabilities, policy compliance and office politics.  Just love the way my boss leaves us to it all instead of, you know, being a good leader.

Where I work, we have staggering amounts of electrical equipment.  We expect everything to be posted correctly, and we will ream the motherfucking shit out of people who violate posted requirements or germane electrical safety rules.   Exceptions to the rule require Senior Safety Officer written buy-in, with an explicit notation in the shift log.    

"That's ok, the posting was just wrong" will make a fine epitaph on your headstone.  Where I work, that is completely unacceptable, caveat SSO signoff.

30+ years in the biz.

you have to go home at the end of the day

I'm a field technician and I think it is more like the wild west or whatever. Basically we've been doing that same s*** year after year ever since 2009 when those f****** stickers were put on there and my boss basically didn't want to have to argue with the bitchy customer who just wants his f****** PM's done like always.  plus it is a big customer lots of Revenue.

yeah finally I had to send a second email so that it was in writing that I was having concerns about this and that someone else was going to have to put it in writing if they wanted me to go ahead and do the work because if someone just verbally says no it's okay go ahead and do it thain  not going to be worth a damn in court.

yes I get it I have a dangerous job I could die, I accept that I just don't like those m************ trying to set me up to where if I do die Breaking a safety rule for their f****** convenience they can get out of any kind of liability. I'm really starting to hate this boss

The "customer" is not always right.

Your safety must come first above all else. If your boss or company does not respect that, you need a new boss or company. We have an entire ethics department where I work for that reason.

Be thankful you even HAD a safety officer that was worth his salt AND the "Bosses Boss" was backing everything up.  Years ago those people didnt exist.  I have seen alot of people torn up on jobsites using incorrect equipment and by being coerced into doing stuff beyond thier work scope or ability or were "forced" to do jobs "because thats what we have always done".  Sometimes it's hard to make that call "rocking the boat" or slowing production.

I was horribly injured on a jobsite because the GC didnt mark, label or block an old work shaft that was on the floor.  I fell through it, knocking myself out and shattered my shoulder/scapula.  Had I fallen completely in I would be dead.  It was 40 feet deep and had 10 feet of water at the bottom.  I was fortunate I didnt go all the way down but rather "hung at the top", bleeding, unconscious and busted up so bad I couldnt move.

It would have taken 5 seconds for the GC to put up caution tape or something.  I almost died (again.... (long story)) because someone didn't want to take 5 SECONDS out of production time to make the site safe. I was out of work for 7 months and got 16 screws/lag bolts along with 2 metal plates in my back from this.  I cant even imagine working with what I call "Frankenstein" voltages on industrial equipment.  High voltage will really F up your day (Life).  I got blown across an elevator MER because I accidently shorted out a relay control panel.  550 DC makes a pretty blue fireball and heaved me 15 feet through the air.  I'm lucky it threw me and dint bite or lock me onto the equipment.

You did the right thing...

You did the right thing.  Arc flash is no fucking joke.  Rules are written in blood.  

All I know is electricity will go in your index finger and come out at your funny bone. Got my attention real fast and let me know that not becoming an electrician was the correct choice. If one of our mechanics has any concern about getting shocked, I am taking his word, and going on his precaution.

Well, egg on my face lol, upon further review, apparently there was some explanation for the sticker.

the higest hazard sticker was not for the whole machine but just the load side of one section, which was evaluated as if it was its own system.  That rating was based on the timing of the trip settings of those breakers alone assuming an infinite bus.  In fact, components upstream in the system and the upstream feed would limit the hazard, but that is how they reckoned it.  Nevertheless, we have to abide that sticker for that section and stay out but can work in the others, as usual which have other ratings

Importantly, if they are somehow wrong and I get vaporized they are liable, not me.

I guess I don't hate my boss so much after all On the phone when he explained what everyone determined today he was very nice and said he appreciated my commitment to safety and that the customer ultimately appreciated the concern in context of the potential liabilities to both our companies.

Ultimately if you have a safety concern, it's always the right thing to do to bring it up and stand by your position until proven otherwise.  You did the right thing.