Technical

Not from here, though there will be a name on the <...work instruction...> who can explain things in greater detail. That individual's phone number cannot be seen from here.

This was a work instruction at a work location.

It was instruction on how to setup the HiPot tester.

It explained how to use a grounding strap around your wrist and connect a wire between the strap and the ground pin on the HiPot.

...then no feedback is needed.

is this safe?

Ask the named individual on the <...work instruction...>, as the equipment cannot be seen from here.

Use the telephone, as it is far quicker than any other communication method.

That is to make sure that you are at the same earth potential of the hipot. If you float, then your body could be at a higher potential to ground than the hipot, when testing. If another part of your body touches something at actual earth potential, then you, all charged up like a capacitor, could discharge suddenly, perhaps through your left arm.

This instruction also tells you to properly earth the hipot, so that the hipot case is earthed to the surface your body touches.

It's safe.

...for appropriately-trained individuals, one suspects?

No it's not, with all of them wires dangling all over the place, somebody might trip and fall !

...so if someone gets zapped it is now LynDoor Industries' fault.

In another life, I wrote such instructions for manufacturing areas in an aerospace company.

Operators are expected to follow those instructions, written at the fifth grade level to be sure that they can even be understood by people such as the poster.

It was/is the responsibility of the author of those instructions to assure that personal safety is the first consideration. This is especially important when handling explosives and dealing with high voltages.

No one here has the knowledge of the people/equipment/competence in that particular operation.

"People such as the poster" - bit condescending. He asked a question. Full marks to him.

This does sound personnel safe to me to have the HiPot tester and (trained) people grounded to the same point. However, using a HiPot while on an ElectroStatic Discharge (ESD) mat does not sound like a safe practice for many electrostatic sensitive parts that happens to also be on the mat but what do I know, nothing. You might be testing the static protection circuitry that goes with a sensitive part. You might even be performing a deliberately destructive test on a static sensitive part. There is just so much you haven't told us.

I will clarify my point here.

I do see some scenarios where the sparse information the OP gave us is both accurate and safe to perform. I do not see enough information to say if this test procedure is always safe or dangerous for people, equipment or both.

The most dangerous person in any lab is the person that doesn't know what is happening. The second most dangerous person in any lab is the person that cannot accurately and thoroughly communicate what is happening when lethal conditions might be present.

The OP needs better guidance from those who know the lab and the experiment/test to be performed. We do not know either the lab or test to be performed.

I believe the wrist strap is connected to the ground of the hipot, not the operator....I misread it at first too...

Oh . . . O.K. Got it.

Never heard this, doesn't seem to make sense....but I guess it depends on what you are testing, maybe this is a special application....I certainly would check with whomever wrote that requirement into the instruction manual, and get confirmation from another independent source...What is this test station testing? Generally the hipot is grounded to the panel....

https://hipot.com/docs/whitepapers/Basic-Facts.pdf

https://www.arisafety.com/wp-content/uploads/pdfs/Safe-Workstation-AppNote.pdf

this was a high voltage test (8k ac) to simulate lighting strike (5k dc) . They have the ground wire from the high pot twisted to the wire for the wrist strap which is plugged in the wall outlet (using ground only).

What is the amperage provided?

The wrist strap is to discharge the static electricity that couples to your body if you happen to be insulated momentarily or for some period in the vicinity of the test. You may be insulated (gloves) from direct contact with the high voltage and think it is ok, but then generate a spark with some other part of your body coming in contact with earth potental. The wrist strap discharges this static charge continuously.

If you work near high voltage lines, walking on dry crushed stone, you will find that you can hear small arc noises when you touch a grounded steel bus support. At night you can see the arcs. This while well out of range for your 550kV BIL impulse flashover distance

DC hipots don't present this capacitive charging effect, they just charge the insulation of the tested machine or wire, with deadly results if you unclip the earth potential lead from the item being tested too early. The capacitive charge can be quite significant, and persist for significant time, even when the conductor is short circuited to the frame or cable shielding or conductive jacket. Not like discharging an electrolytic capacitor.

Read the warning at the bottom of SolarEagle's app note. NO, it's not safe.

"WARNING
Do NOT setup electrical safety testing stations and ESD (electrostatic discharge) stations in the same area. ESD protocols protect a component or device from static discharge. They do not protect the operator from high voltage hazards.

These items intentionally ground the test operator which can cause injury or death to a high voltage test operator. You should not use ESD protocls when working with voltages above 250 VAC."

Thanks for the info all !

We have set up a "safe" test area for all future testing. We will NOT combine ESD with these high voltage test procedures. Not sure who wrote these instructions we have but I will be sure to update them!

AC or DC pressure tester, (Hi Pot). What test voltages?

Feedback is required. Please do as instructed and let me know what happens. I have not had a hearty laugh for eons..