Turning on a main circuit breaker

A little frightened at the "knowledge" being expressed here and some of the very fortunate non-issues that have been shared. Yes, the NFPA 70E does have specification on what PPE is required for various levels of operation of a circuit breaker. There are five categories of PPE. I do not have the 2012 charts to share (here's the 2012 PPE, just not in a chart form), but here are the requirements from 2009.
PPE-Chart.jpgELECTRICAL SAFETY COMPLIANCE CHART
FOR NFPA 70E AND CSA Z462


Please note that in the safety compliance chart, this is just a guide which may or may not reflect the PPE requirements for your specific space. The only way to know that is through a risk assessment study by a licensed electrical engineer. The biggest risk in our industry is that most of us have been trained to think we are successful despite repeated near misses. Just because we don't know that we are working with something dangerous does not mean that it isn't. Just because we will call the person who is the lead electrician on a show a Master Electrician, this does not mean that the person is actually qualified to have that title. Yes, there is arc-flash risk whenever you flip a breaker or switch. Yes, the older a switch is, the more likely it will fail. There is also discussion on how often a circuit breaker should be tested. If it is not designed to be a switch, then it has a rated limit on the number of times it is designed to be switched off and on. Here's a good primer on the 70E requirements. Your facility manager really should have the updated copy.
 

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