I worked in Survey many years ago. The initial 'excitement buzz' of the low level that many pilots get, is soon lost as the guys get comfortable with it pretty quick. Therein lies the danger !! Guys nodding off asleep at the controls, becoming fixated on flying the needles for accuracy at the expense of height, one guy used to read a book - much to my horror and disgust !! And when you're spending six (or more) hours a day at 160ft, some pilots did some rather extreme random and dangerous stunts when they wanted to show off. Because it's all VFR, their IFR skills degraded rapidly.
Having said that, apart from the idiots that you run into from all walks of life, many of the most proficient and safe pilots I have worked with were also working with the company.
Of course, unless you have a mining area that requires survey within 100km from your house, you are likely to be away most of the year.