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	Subject - Working with hot lines quiroga4 I want to know some tips , when I am working with hot lines , I mean for some reason I can't cut the current. ( Lines 120 v 220, or 440) Thanks Miguel JimmyDee Working with hot lines should be avoided as much as possible. If you have to work a line hot, you should have: (1) certified, insulating blankets to isolate the hot line from anything grounded or the other hot lines. (2) never work alone and both should know CPR. (3) work with insulated tools (4) work with certified, insulated gloves (5) If connecting another line off a hot feed, make sure there is zero voltage between the new additional line to be hooked up and and the hot line. These are a few of the precautions I used and the power company uses when working on hot wires. I recommend you don't do it and suggest if you have to, work with someone that has done it safely before. I feel there is no difference in safety precautions between 120, 240 and 480 volts. They all can kill or burn. Jim Pierre Belarge I think that if there is any response to this question, it should be in the form of advice. My advice is take a 10 hour OSHA class or some other certified safety course before you do this type of work. It is highly recommened to not do live work. Any other advice could lead to someones death. My other advice - turn the power off. Pierre lctrc789 Both of these post make sense and YOU SHOULD NOT WORK ANYTHING HOT IF YOU CAN AVOID IT. If you do follow what Jimmy says get some one to help you wear the proper PPE (personal protective equipment) Have rubber blankets and be very careful. Any voltage can burn or kill you so it doesn't matter, never assume that anything is off and always use caution. I have seen many articles in the last 24 years of deaths due to shocks, Man found dead in crawl space shocked to death, (120 volts) Apprentice killed while working on signs outside (277 volts) Man killed when he thought equipment was off (480 volts) Local power company has man killed electrocuted. (7620 volts) As you can see the voltages here it doesn't matter, the amount of current, and the amount of time, and the path the current takes through your body that is what matters. Lineman work stuff hot all the time they are trained , have the proper equipment and do not have the same circumstances that electricians do. Electricians for the most part work in tight areas where a shock is much easier, Hot panels, above ceiling grids, equipment stuffed in a tight area etc.... I would rather send a service man out at a time when power can be shut off and know he will go home to his family then to have him try to do something that he may not. Of course we have all worked in hot panles, changed breakers, changed ballasts etc. but do we really need to? I say if you have to work something hot be trained, be prepared, have a buddy and BY OSHA GUIDELINES if you are not, you cannot.