Verifying De-Energized Equipment

Use this as a guide, along with best practices, when verifying equipment is de-energized. I will
include links to videos in this guide as well to demonstrate how some of the equipment is used.
The best way to verify de-energized equipment is using the LIVE-DEAD-LIVE method. The
equipment used in this process will consist of electrically insulated gloves, a hot stick/shotgun
stick, proximity voltage detector, and a multimeter.

NOTE: The proximity voltage detector DOES NOT

detect DC voltage only AC voltage
LIVE
Wear your electrical gloves and attach the proximity voltage detector on the end of the hot stick
or shotgun stick. Using the proximity voltage detector on the lowest setting find a known live
electrical source, such as an outlet, and verify that the proximity voltage detector beeps when
placed near the outlet. Do this step even if the proximity voltage detector has a self test feature.
DEAD
Now use the proximity voltage detector to verify the equipment de-energized. This should be
done on an exposed piece of the wiring, bus bar, or conductor in the circuit. Some wires and
cables have shielding which can cause the proximity voltage detector to not alarm so this is very
important to remember.
LIVE
After verifying the circuit is de-energized you need to verify that the proximity voltage detector
is still properly functioning. To do this you will repeat the first step and verify the proximity
voltage detector on a known live source.

After performing these steps you should now grab your multimeter and verify the circuit de-
energized again. This step may seem over the top, but it will help you to verify that the
proximity voltage detector didn’t miss anything and that there is no DC voltage in the circuit.
Ensure to check phase to phase and each phase to ground. The circuit has now been verified de-
energized and is safe to work on.

VIDEOS:
Using a Proximity Voltage Detector 1
Using a Proximity Voltage Detector 2
Multimeter Checks