The manhole cover was with a pickup.
I won't give you too many scenarios, as I don't want tor ruin your thread anymore, and it seems you already have all the answers........but here's one

You are shoveling and slip on ice.... break your leg. Could happen to anyone. no biggie, BUT you are being paid. You are now a contractor on the job. Your health insurance will look for someone to sue. The homeowners insurance won't pay because you are being paid. Now they look for your "company" liability policy. You don't have one, so you are stuck with the bill.
Another friend of mine had his neighbor over helping him build a shed. He fell and broke his wrist. Being he was just helping and not being paid, my friend's homeowners insurance paid for it. This kind of stuff is what brings our rates up.

Doing work on private property can get tricky if you don't know your legalities.

I'm just saying, if you wanna come out and play with the big boys (real legitimate businesses), you should be prepared. This stuff isn't taken lightly, especially with people losing jobs to others not playing by the rules, and all the unemployment right now.

You could say the government is limiting us by not allowing us to work, but we bring it on ourselves by not obeying the rules of doing business here.