I honestly dont know a whole lot about medium and high voltage switching. Believe it or not 480 is considered low voltage. That would fall under work performed by the line men. We really dont even get to do much with 13.2 primary. I would like to spend some time working with the linemen (local 17 by me) just to have an understanding of their work.
480v arc flash has enough incident energy to cook flesh. If you complete the circuit and the OCPD does not open quick enough it is possible to burn up flesh and bone.
It is also possible to get a 4th degree burn from electricity. Basically you cook the muscle under the skin without much visible damage to the skin itself.
When I was in highschool I did something really dumb when working on a vacuum tube amplifier.
I was holding the chassis in my left hand and wanted to move a plate resistor a little as I thought it was picking up noise. As you may know, older stuff up until the late 60s or so didn't use circuit boards, it was all point to point, or components basically hanging in the air.
Anyway, my left hand holding the chassis *ground* and my right pointer finger instead of only touching the resistor material, also touched the B+ side of the resistor which was 400VDC.
My arms locked, I actually started to panic because it really hurt, and I couldn't move. Luckily I realized I was in sneakers (concrete floor in the basement) and walked backwards pulling the amplifier out of my hands. It seemed like hours but I'd bet it all happened in 5 seconds or so.
It fell on the floor, broke a pot, but I lived.
I've had many shocks, but never has one felt quite like that and I'm probably lucky it didn't do me in especially going through my chest.
A dc shock like that doesn't feel like an ac shock. It doesn't really vibrate like ac, it's hard to explain.
From that point on I've been careful with the 1 hand rule.
Some of my past amplifiers that I sold years ago, including one showing point to point (no circuit board)
https://fbcdn-sphotos-h-a.akamaihd...._=1418538682_e051db1845efed1a41080cdd597bf4f6
https://fbcdn-sphotos-b-a.akamaihd...._=1418336264_94d5ad41b308c08f41b8ae224e0e7f24
https://fbcdn-sphotos-h-a.akamaihd...._=1419985653_ec217be76605b803098effae96fb7feb