Live meter work as a residental electrican apprentice in new jersey (safety and legality questions)
I am an electrician apprentice with about a year and a half of experience and recently started with a new company that does a lot of residential service upgrades and replacements. I am located in new jersey and work for a licensed electrical contractor but i was never taught much about working safely doing live work on services underground or overhead but i was wondering the safety regulations other company or electricians follow when doing live meter/service work and this more pertains to underground but some questions are general. Even if you dont work in new jersey and can give some tips to ensure my safety as an apprentice in terms of getting the company to supply safety equipment when doing live work(non-union they havent provided insulated gloves or face shield but i also havent asked if we need them as none of the other employees seem to care) or just any general osha laws that ensure my safety without risk of loosing my job in retaliation
- Is it legal to do a live service underground or overhead without getting a disconnected reconnect(i have done this multiple times with the company so i just assume its legal)
2.What safety precautions do you take when doing underground services live as in procedure and safety equipment(should you be wearing a face shield and gloves etc) and how do you get a company to provide them as it is my understanding that osha requires employers to provide safety equipment when working live) - Is there safety classes or information that i can do to know how to do things as safe as possible (i understand live work is never safe or really necessary in terms of residential which is really what got me curious why we dont file for a DR and do it properly)
I dont really have a problem doing live overhead services as i understand how to do it properly and i havent felt unsafe doing it but im on jobs with guys doing underground services and it just seems like too much of a risk but i have also never seen the repercussions of a live service change gone bad so i dont think i have a good idea of how safe or unsafe doing this type of work is
I know that was a lot so props to you if you read all that i drank a lot so im just rambling but im genuinely curious if im reasonable in my concern for doing unnecessary live work