"Jack the Lad" wrote in message
om...
No electrician worth his salt would insert/tighten/remove cables on a
live circuit unless he has a death wish.

Rubbish. Brushing a suspect cable with the back of a finger is a well-proven
way to check whether it is live or not. Just make sure you're not standing
in an earthed bucket of water at the time.

Therefore,he should switch off
the supply and check that the circuit is 'not live' before commencing
work.
Why then do I see electricians screwdrivers and pliers which claim to
be 1000 volts fully insulated,or are these made purely for the idiots
to use?

It is an extra safety level, just in case the circuit you isolated isn't the
right one. I've worked on a 3-phase supply that I though was dead before
discovering that one phase had an extra connection to the incoming main. As
I was standing on 6mm thick rubber safety matting at the time, I didn't get
a shock, even though I was working on a brass terminal with an uninsualted
allen key.

Colin Bignell