Yes, I wear electrical hazard boots. Also FR trousers from my old job. Primarily because they're cargo pants and I don't know how to survive without the cargo pockets lol.
To answer the issue of there is more going on here, there is. It's a very small department (6 guys and a secretary) that has one leg in the parks department and the other in Public Works. It had been between 6-12 months my position was open within the department and the guy that hired me apparently was either greatly misinformed or desperate enough to blatantly lie to me during the hiring process. It wasn't until I got an official orientation over three weeks into the job I learned what the benefits really were. It was a lesson in doing my homework, some of what he was greatly misinformed about was publicly available information.
Some arc flash studies have been done on newer gear or where things have been inspected. Believe it or not, this place actually has a sewage liftstation inside of a main switchgear room. It isn't even closed up, they just threw some plywood over the hole so people would be less likely to fall down into the cesspool. You can actually look down and see the raw sewage. They haven't asked me to do anything in there yet.
Job search is in progress, though talking to an attorney might not be a bad idea for damage control if a sudden end does come to this job. I've never seen so many panels with mystery wires shoved under the main lugs and going off God knows where. A 225A main breaker will protect that #12 when too many space heaters get plugged in, right? This from a 120v panel where literally every breaker is a tandem.
Most days it hasn't been too bad, but at some point it will end up coming to a head. Sad part is I left a job I liked for this place. I started casually looking because of some minor BS and the "seven year ache" and without even thinking about it wound up here. Actually I left a gravy train I could have ridden the next 20-30 years into retirement.
Anyway, thanks for all the replies. Oh yeah, and the throw a chain link fence into the panel...wouldn't it be better if I was wearing some oil soaked synthetic T-shirt to cut down on cremation costs?