Abstract: An experienced crew leader for an electrical contractor approached a section of a 12-kilovolt, 600-ampere switchgear. The host electric utility had attached a hold open tag to the switchgear, indicating that it had been deenergized. A switchman for the electric utility had also been on site and had pulled the fuses for another section of the same switchgear where other work was going to be performed. However, the section that the crew leader was to check had not been deenergized; and no verbal clearance had been issued for this section. The crew leader was wearing appropriate personal protective equipment, including hard hat, safety glasses, and rubber insulating gloves rated at 20 kilovolts. He carried a Simpson 500 volt-ohmmeter, presumably to check for residual voltage on the switchgear. When the crew leader approached the still-energized switchgear with the meter, an electric arc occurred. The employee sustained fatal burns to his body from his face to his knees.