You never see it coming

I've had my share of close calls. Used to do service work on HVAC and some install work. After that I worked for Motorola for awhile installing E911 radio/ telco gear, and did some tower climbing.

One time we were pulling out an electric furnace used as aux heat for a heat pump. We were installing a high efficiency gas furnace, leaving the heat pump on AC only. The panel was not marked, daylight basement off the garage, where the panel was located. Found all the 220 breakers for the furnace, no problem, pulled them loose. There was a condensate pump hard wired into a J box. Did not know which breaker. Pulled the lid off, stuck a beeper into the black hot wire, and went out and played easter egg. Beeper quit on one breaker, it was a single breaker. Went back in, pulled the wire nuts off, pulled the nut off the box clamp and pulled the (BX) cable out of the box. KER BLAMB OH White wire was hot. The breaker for IT was about 6 breakers down the row from the black one--IT WAS A 220 PUMP

One of stupidest mistakes I made was we were putting a horizontal LP furnace into a homeowner built home with crawl space. It was a mess, down there. Damp (winter, new house construction) bumpy and rocky and trash in it. We were trying to get the furnace all hooked up and running. There was a loose baseboard heater about 8ft long lying down there, in the road. Owner had been using it for temp heat. I tried to move it, was hooked to something. I asked owner who was looking on. "It's not hooked up." "You sure?" "I'm sure." Ruined a pair of (insulated handle) Klein nippers. I am lucky I wasn't touching the damn things metal. No10 Romex 220V