In the thread involving Manitoubass2 he has announced that his stumble at work not only did a complete tear of his ACL but now, two weeks later, he learns he also broke his femur. Fortunately for him, he is an employee with various benefits to help him through this painful struggle.
Many of us are what you might can a one-man band. We may have a trained monkey assisting in getting the job done, but, no one else is in a position to actually take the reins and keep the survey chariot going without our physical presence and knowledge in the field. For many just getting started out on their own there may be nowhere near enough insurance to take care of the medical bills. The loss of new cash flow for an extended period may be disastrous.
No matter how careful you believe you are, you can still have a mishap. Also, you can't stop the driver in the oncoming lane from having a heart attack and suddenly putting his radiator through yours. Even worse are unpredictable health issues of your own. As an example, our 61 year-old high school football coach apparently experienced a stroke last weekend while simply hanging out around his house taking life easy. About 15 years ago a fellow surveyor (about 50 at the time) laid his head on his work table after lunch as if to take a nap. He was having a stroke. His brain ended up sort of like Swiss cheese and he was unable to work ever again. A fellow who is about 30 and who has done some work for me in the past has spent the past week 150 miles from home at a children's hospital with his wife and their less than three-pound newborn baby. He is currently a Government employee so he is good shape, but a year ago he had no such support mechanism. I lost the services of my early 40's physician a few years ago due to the onset of Multiple Sclerosis that forced her to restructure her life dramatically.
Having freedom to do as we like is absolutely wonderful, but it can be incredibly expensive if bad things happen.
I think I would be forced to lose as much as it took. I'd have to send the wife back to work after a few months. If it lasted 6 months or more, I would be up the creek business wise.
Even with the one full time guy, there is only so much he can do. Eventually he would need to find another place to work and rightfully so.
I think about this situation a lot, and count my blessings. My wife has had a series of musculoskeletal problems over the last 5 years, mostly relatively minor age-related things that nevertheless limited her mobility in a way that would have precluded field work for days or weeks at a time had she been surveyor. And on January 10 she's going in for a hip replacement, the lead-up to which has also meant limited mobility for months, and the recovery from which will mean the same for weeks. So far I've avoided problems of that nature, but that can change in an instant.
For the projects currently on the list it would not be a problem to get them finished as I would call on a couple local surveyors to see the technical side was handled, even if I ended up billing the client for less than my increased expense. The problem would be the need to turn away work for an extended period. That not only hits the short term income but also the long term income. A tremendous fraction of my work comes from repeaters and referrals.
Mrs. Cow had hip replacement surgery about 10 years ago. Then, five years ago her MCL failed her while simply climbing onto our big lawn mower. The MCL problem has been a bigger mobility problem than the hip replacement. I rarely allow her to go with me into the field as something as simple as getting hung up for a second on a grape vine could be disastrous for her.
I count my blessings every day....I've had two bouts of cancer, I'm a disabled vet and old as some of the hills I have to hump all day....just thankful I can still operate as a solo surveyor...
One of the reasons I've elected to remain an employee instead of going solo is to maintain connection to Worker Compensation and unemployment insurance. You take the good with the bad.
My current situation comes close to being the best of both worlds. I'm the sole surveyor working for an engineer with a single EIT as the only other employee.
This is affecting me currently. I rolled my ankle in June and have not been 100% since. In October the Doc required an MRI because it hadn't healed. Turns out I had 2 (out of 3) torn ligaments. I had to have surgery on November 17 to repair them. After that it was NO weight bearing for 4 weeks. I was on a knee scooter or crutches. One week ago I was taken down to one crutch and could place 50% of the previous weight on that ankle. In another week I go back and I will, hopefully, be in a fracture boot for a few more weeks while going through PT.
Needless to say, this has impacted my productivity greatly. I have a two person crew that does my house stakes and smaller boundaries, but I have always completed my ALTA's and run control for construction layout.
I also have to pull historical research for other surveyors when they call and request it.
I have workers compensation, but it doesn't help when you get injured off of the job. This has been a pretty awful experience and from reading others experience with this surgery, it looks like a long and hard road....
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Once I am licenced, I am thinking about going into business for myself.
But If go that route, I'd almost certainly partner with another LS. Having someone to bounce ideas off and cover you during vacations seems worth any potential negatives.
Almost 30 years ago I took a hiatus from Surveying. I was doing concrete restoration and going to school. The work and schedule were brutal. Nearly a year into it I had turned the corner and felt like superman. Cutting corners crept in.
Late one day I monkeyed up some scaffolding to chip off some concrete. No walk boards, but it just just a little piece. 30 seconds with the chipping hammer I was done. Step back to see better, no walk boards. Halfway down I managed to grab a cross bar with one hand. The cracking inside my neck shook my whole body. I hit the ground on one leg with my knee locked. It didn't hurt. I actually drove home in shock.
Workers comp paid me for a year, then cut what I thought was a good check. In the years since I've had 17 surgeries. Some were to fuse the broken neck, others were from similar acts of stupidity in my past.
To more directly answer the question, the loss of income can be a coin toss. You may get a great payout, you may end up pennyless. You can control that somewhat with a little planning. The lost time and missed opportunities to spend with your kids and grandkids can't be replaced. I have no formula to factor that in, but it's a real big number..
Young................invincible..........................stupid..........................we've all been there and are fortunate to still be here at all.
This is why I repeatedly have said in other posts that as much as I love working solo, for my own insurance I must avoid it. I'll still work as my own crew solo but I need to train and have a 2nd crew for this exact reason. One slip, one fall, or one leg starts to not work great in 15 years and where does it leave me?
A slip like Manitoba had and what would I tell my clients? My builders? "Hold on and wait 6 months for that final survey" and "wait 6 months and I'll stake out that new building for you" ??
I've gotten a couple builders bc a few years back a solo guy in the area broke his leg. So while he was out of commission they came to me and have been ever since.
A slip like Manitobas for me means I'm out many clients. It means 0 income for the time I'm out. It means a real loss of business and rebuilding needed.
This is why I am so against me falling into the comfort zone of being solo. Man, its easy but man its risky.
Over the last 31 years of "solo" practice, I have been pretty lucky. I lost a month due to a broken tail bone back in the late 80s, and ~6months in 2006-2007 due to major surgery. Neither of which were "work related." I managed to survive financially, but it was NOT easy (especially the survey deal, with no health insurance). It is something that we all should bear in mind, stuff happens, and it can have a serious impact on your business AND life.
Loyal
I just tie survey flagging around injuries.
Cost? Maybe a roll or 2 of flagging.
I pulled something in my back picking up the boy wonder but the good news is it took my mind off of my sore shoulder.
It's those simple little things that get us. Whether doing work or doing something on your own, it gets in your pocket either way. Many years ago I worked for a large local business that had their version of a medical office onsite. Monday mornings found far too many workers hanging out there. Canoeing accidents, slow pitch softball injuries, major sunburns...........................
I worked at a millworks when I was younger that had a deal with a local medical office that was close by to care of any injuries that might occur. I personally got a tetanus shot there during my employment.
One fella stapled himself with a 8d nail gun and screwed his hand up bad and went to this clinic. They had to cut his hand up pretty good to get out all of the pieces of the nail and then sewed him back up with four or five stitches. When he hopped down off the examining table to stand up he fainted, fell over and gashed his forehead open. Sure enough he got some stitches in his forehead too.
Apparently the millwork's insurance was having a tizzy because the injury to his head didn't happen at the work site. He never missed enough work to bother with workers' comp, but apparently the paperwork involved was a mess. They actually posted a notice in the break room that basically said we couldn't go to the clinic unless we were accompanied by a co-worker or supervisor. I guessed that was so you would have someone there to catch you when you fainted....
