Found this the other day walking a small project in the world I work in. Haven't seen these in use before but my first thought is that it's being misused. What are your thoughts?

Not quite getting it. It kind of looks like some of the more fancy cover up that is on the market used to temporarily cover electrical panels or parts of panels while work is ongoing. I've even seen a version with a slot or flaps in it so that you can cover the entire panel except the slot you are working on, which is no different than extensive use of line hose. Just like that stuff though it is not a substitute for permanent repairs and it's a whole lot better than either leaving the panel open or leaving it wide open to the elements and just throwing up a bunch of danger tape around it.

Not a fan of those cables coming out of the front of the panel, hopefully that's temporary. It does explain the use of that barrier though. Again, hopefully a temporary situation.

My real problems are the fact that it doesn't cover the entire panel, that in turn almost invites a person to work above the temporary cover and then when that is done we end up with wire being pulled into the can when the panel is not de-energized. I go to all of this "arc flash" training and then it seems like we follow what we want to. That doesn't go over well in my black and white brain.

Thanks for any and all feedback.

"Above" is one of those things that is almost taken for granted. For example if you are outside the fence of an old overhead-style substation with tubular bus (everything is wide open on insulators), are you outside the "limited approach boundary" or the unnamed equivalent under OSHA 1910.269 / NESC rules?

OK let's change the situation to where the substation is next to a fairly tall building that houses the melt shop of a foundry operation and one of the upper decks is wide open located on the Delaware river. A "breeze" (30 MPH+ wind) picks up an aluminized fire jacket and drops it across two bus bars with all kinds of ensuing sparks and smoke as the jacket causes a phase-to-phase flashover. It's the same scenario as cutting down a tree next to a power line but visually more exciting, and this actually happened.

"Overhead" is always a tricky consideration because when it comes to concepts like the MAD/restricted approach boundary and the like if there are loose items or things that can fall into the equipment, no distance might be acceptable.

Hi All

I am sort of with Paul here. From the angle shot here, is this suppose to be a dielectric blanket of some sort to protect from inadvertent contact? Or just a cover someone has placed over the front of the panel?

Following the typical safety standards about accessibility to the hazard: the guarding must prevent any body part from being exposed to (or able to contact the hazard) so if you can still stick a finger past this guard into the panel and make "contact" (breach the safe working distance) with live conductors then it fails the test. Of course the other question is the hazard when someone pokes into the opening with a screwdriver or other conductive object. In some jurisdictions, it is also an offence to fail to protect malicious or careless actors from the consequences of their stupidity.