The safety check that saved me last week

I was on a panel in the old boiler room, double-checking grounding after a storm, when I noticed the insulation on a terminal was cracked—just barely, like a hairline fracture. Didn’t look dangerous at first. But then I remembered: same spot, same crack, three years ago. Back then, I’d just taped it over and moved on. This time, I stopped. Took a photo. Called it in. Turned out the whole busbar was corroding under the surface. If I hadn’t paused, I’d have been touching live conductors during a routine test. Still don’t know why I did this time—maybe it was the rain outside, or how quiet the bu