On Sat, 18 Jul 2020 14:43:08 -0500, dpb wrote:

On 7/16/2020 1:07 AM, wrote:
...

It is still a device box on a cord. That box is only listed if the
"cable" (not a cord) is secured within 12" of the push in entry.
Clare is right, you would have been better off with a power strip.
Then you would not be having the tap problem in the first place.

I usually try not to get involved in these things because the actual
code would really **** you off. ...

Indeed! The combination of NEC and OSHA for job site "handy box"
extension cords are, indeed, infuriatingly over-the-top in banning
things that are certainly safe-enough to be no real hazard at all but
just don't have the window-dressing.

Fortunately, some things can be safely ignored when don't have to answer
to OSHA...

I have about 600' of extension cords my wife confiscated from the job
sites when she heard OSHA was in town. The deal was "make them
compliant or buy a new one". Pretty much everyone bought a new one.
The damage was usually in the first or last few feet of the end so I
ended up with a bunch of 90' and 40' 12 ga cords. I even offered to
give them back for the price of the connectors I bought but nobody
bit.
OSHA is a funny beast in the boonies like we live in. If there is an
accident in town the flying squad comes in. That job gets picked
apart. Then they go around town writing tickets for a week and they
are gone.
Woe be to the contractor or job super who is not paying attention to
the buzz about an accident.
In the 7 years she built houses her jobs were fairly much unscathed by
fines and penalties but she had the reputation of being the safety
nazi. Hard hats, eye protection and proper footwear was the top of the
list. Next came ladders and fall protection, boots on the rebar and
keeping the ground around the building clear. GFCIs were never an
issue because all temporary power was on GFCI at the source. Cords
were still a problem tho.