Reality check

[Guest lightnix]

<snip> In the end the only people able to truly judge your competence will be a court.

That's what I am afraid of now! :P Not that I have done anything wrong yet! :o

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I think that at times we all get a bit paranoid about H&S...

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Not 'arf :D

 

It's something that's been stressing me out for quite a while now (in case you hadn't noticed ;) ), particularly from my point of view as a self-employed freelancer. On the one hand I'm told that I must have some kind of electrical qualification to prove my competence, but on the other that my twenty plus years in the field makes me competent by itself.

 

That's not all: recently I was asked by my one remaining major client if I had received any formal training in rigging (we have to put up small trusses from time to time). I was able to answer that my BTEC Level II contained a module on rigging, so yes - sort of. Even so, it looks as though I'll have to do something like the Total Fabs course at some point, at a cost of around £500 (good value IMHO) plus a hotel / B&B for three nights.

 

Add to that the cost of maybe doing a few ABTT courses (plus membership) and the cost could well hit four figures. Tax deductible or not, it's still a considerable sum, especially when I've only done three days' paid work so far this year, with just another two on the books over the next month :o

 

The fact that freelance rates have barely kept pace with the increase in the core Retail Price Index over the last decade (see my post here) means that such expenses knock a huge hole in any freelancer's income. Despite the need for clients to use demonstrably competent crew, none of them want to pay the increased rates that have to be charged as a result of these increased expenses. "You'll just have to do more work" or, "We admire your dedication to your profession, but you're a bit over-qualified for the sort of work we do" or the classic, "We can get people who will do this job perfectly well for £140 per day" means that being a self-employed freelance technician in the entertainments business is becoming financially less viable all the time, especially when you consider the 100% hike in PLI premiums which has occured over the last three or four years.

 

The attitude of companies in genaral towards freelancers (as touched on here recently) and the double standards applied to them, when compared to the performance to full-timers, is yet another disincentive. No wonder so many people quit the business by the time they reach their forties, or retreat into a nice, cosy office. On the one hand freelancers are supposed to be fully up to date on at least the basics ofall H&S legislation, but when they try to put it into practice they are often slagged off as "unhelpful" or "inflexible" and therefore unemployable.

 

 

I could go on (and on and on), but I don't have the time right now and talking / writing about it just makes me feel depressed anyway.