Abstract: A crew of employees a remote gold mine was digging with a backhoe when they cut a 4160-volt underground power line. A journeyman electrician was assigned to troubleshoot the problem, and restore power to the high-voltage equipment. The 58-year-old electrician had a wealth of experience, including 20 years of high-voltage experience. After resetting the circuit breakers protecting the circuit, the electrician got a 1000-volt Fluke meter. He had assumed that the broken line was a 480-volt line. He entered the excavation without wearing rubber insulating gloves and checked the circuit with the meter. (The employer had high-voltage testing equipment and rubber insulating gloves available.) The meter failed, and the ensuing electric arc burned the employee. He was hospitalized with second- and third-degree burns on his face and hands.