From a legal and moral point of view I agree with Netblindpaul, cutting the seal is against the law and therefore shouldn't be suggested as an option.
From a practical point of view it's obviously widespread practice and it's obviously deliberately ignored by the DNO's.
From the DNO's point of view;
1 Their workload would drastically increase if they enforced the law so it's in their interests to turn a blind eye at least until a few fatal incidents caused by this practice start making the headlines.
2 Installing an isolator would be an option but it would cost money to roll this out.
3 The law is on their side if a push ever did come to a shove in a courtroom so why should they give a damn.
From the sparkies point of view;
1 Everyone's doing it so abiding by the law would actually cost you money and time putting you at an unfair disadvantage.
2 Nobody is ever prosecuted or punished so it must be okay.
3 It would be almost impossible to prove who cut the seal and when even if there was a prosecution.
It's the worst case scenario where the law is clear but it's not in anybodies interest to enforce or obey it.
Something will have to change.
