Hot take: Bringing my own lunch caught a wiring error I almost missed

I was setting up door contacts in a small office last Tuesday and rushing to beat traffic. My habit is to bring a meal from home, so I stopped to eat at the van. While sitting there, I glanced back at the main panel through the window. I noticed one of the tamper switch wires looked loose from where I sat. After eating, I went back and sure enough, it was barely connected. Tightening it took two seconds but saved a service trip later. Now I see my lunch break as a built-in time to step back and visually scan my work.

3 comments

3 Comments

stellamoore14h ago

At the downtown library renovation last year, the foreman banned food in the work vans... said breaks are for resting, not for double-checking rushed jobs. If you're rushing to beat traffic, that's the real problem right there. Tightening a wire later just covers up for poor focus during the job. That saved service call? Probably just luck.

ivan_harris15h ago

Heard a safety guy call that a 'fresh eyes check' once.

mila_park14h ago

You know how @ivan_harris mentioned that fresh eyes check thing? Once saw a neighbor almost install a shelf wrong because he was tired after work. His kid walked in, asked why the brackets were upside down, and saved the whole wall. That's the sort of dumb error you make when you're not paying full attention. Guess we all need someone else to look over our shoulder sometimes.