Oh. Ugh. A Safety Story.

This was posted over at Control Booth by MNicolai.

"A few years ago a guy was focusing lights from a one-man Genie. In a futile attempt to have an added safety measure, he wore a harness while in the lift, which he secured to the electrics he was focusing from. My guess is that his harness gave him a false sense of security and so he acted more dangerously while in the lift.


So with his false sense of security, this stagehand is leaning out of the bucket ([sarcasm]remember he's safer because of his harness[/sarcasm]) when the lift tips over. When the lift went over, his legs were caught in the bucket and both were snapped like toothpicks. As the lift came crashing down, he was suspended with his harness still, some 30' in the air gushing blood with what's left of his legs dangling, bones completely visible. A bad situation gone horribly worse, nobody had the key to operate the motorized winches supporting the electrics so it took some 5 minutes to get the key, meanwhile he's still bleeding out."

Artist's Insurance

Okay, so. Even if you're a carpenter, an electrician or a seamstress, you're probably also working on the creative aspects of things, right? And chances are you're freelancing or working some job with no benefits other than the sigh of satisfaction after an annoying co-worker is proven wrong about something or leaves for the day.

If you're an artist and have no health insurance, here are a couple of options:

Fractured Atlas- Plans from $128.14/mo to $338.81/mo, individual. The more expensive plans include dental/vision care.

Freelancer's Union- Plans from $130.37/mo to $382.63/mo for an individual. Optional dental and vision cost extra.

Healthy NY-Does not provide support for mental health issues like ADD or depression. Does not cover dental or vision.

At a later date, I'll update this list and provide some pros and cons of joining each group, but for now, I'm having a lazy Saturday. Thanks for reading!