Injury on and beside the track
- The risk of being struck during train movements
- Live overhead lines
- Own and hired-in staff
- Duty of care in the workplace
Worksite protection · 6:162 DCC · delay costs
Public and employers' liability for railway safety officers
A railway safety officer stands between the work gang and the train traffic. A mistake in making the site safe affects people and train services directly, and the loss cannot be paid out of your own resources.
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Deze pagina in het Nederlands: Bedrijfsaansprakelijkheid voor spoorwegbeveiligers.
The calculator and the quote form below are in Dutch. Prefer to do this in English? Email info@finassverzekert.nl or call 072 - 509 24 56 and we will take it from there.
Work out your own premium with the calculator.
Enter your details; you will receive a proposal within one working day.
- We compare the offerings of several insurers
- An adviser checks whether the cover suits your activities
- We arrange the switch, including cancellation
A premium indication, not personal advice. Prefer to talk it through? Call 072 - 509 24 56.
In brief
The liability of a railway safety officer follows from Article 6:162 of the Dutch Civil Code: anyone who makes a mistake in the course of their work causing loss to someone else has to make it good. In worksite protection the mistake is rarely small: an incorrectly set barrier, a missed train movement, an incorrect arrangement about taking a line out of service or a warning given too late can lead to serious injury and to disruption of train traffic.
The public and employers' liability insurance (AVB) covers the damage to property and the personal injury flowing from that towards third parties, plus the consequential loss and the costs of defence. If you work with your own or hired-in staff, the extension for employers' liability is essential: injury to workers beside the track is the most likely and the most expensive scenario you can face.
One category of loss falls outside the AVB as a matter of course: delay costs without physical damage. If an unnecessary line closure or a missed notification brings train traffic to a halt without anything being broken, that is pure financial loss. Infrastructure managers and carriers do charge for it. See also how public and employers' liability insurance is structured.
Where the liability lies
Three risks that are decisive in worksite protection on the railway.
Damage to rail infrastructure
Damage to track, points, signals, cables or overhead lines.
- Cables and pipes in the track bed
- Signals and signalling equipment
- Consequential loss from downtime
- Repairs under time pressure
Delay and penalties
Financial loss without physical damage falls outside the AVB.
- Carriers' delay costs
- Contractual penalty clauses
- Administrative fines
- Pure financial loss
What is covered
| Situation | Basic AVB | With extension |
|---|---|---|
| Injury to an employee of the contractor | Yes | Yes |
| Injury to your own or hired-in staff | Provided that | Yes |
| Damage to signals or overhead lines | Yes | Yes |
| Delay costs without material damage | No | No |
| A fine or a contractual penalty clause | No | No |
| Damage to borrowed measuring equipment you were using | No | Provided that |
What is actually covered, including exclusions, the sum insured and the excess, is set out in the policy conditions and the insurance card (verzekeringskaart) you receive before you take out cover.
What you arrange on this policy
Four points that determine whether the cover holds up for railway work.
Working on railway land is a question of acceptance
Not every insurer accepts work on or beside a line in service. Those that do attach conditions to it: valid personal certificates for the safety role, working in accordance with the infrastructure manager's safety regime and a written worksite protection instruction. State these activities word for word in the application; the duty of disclosure under Article 7:928 of the Dutch Civil Code applies here in full and a breach can cause the payout to lapse (Article 7:930 of the Dutch Civil Code).
Delay costs are the largest exposure
The bill an infrastructure manager or carrier sends after an unjustified closure often consists of pure financial loss: delay costs, replacement transport, rescheduling. The AVB covers damage to property and personal injury and the consequential loss flowing from those, not financial harm without physical damage. If you want to cover that risk, professional indemnity insurance is needed. Limit your liability by contract where you can as well; penalty clauses are not insurable.
What else falls outside the cover
Excluded as standard are: the cost of your own work doing the work again, damage to property you had in your care (the care, custody and control exclusion, for example borrowed measuring or safety equipment), and damage caused by intent or wilful recklessness under Article 7:952 of the Dutch Civil Code. Damage caused with a motor vehicle or with rail vehicles runs through an insurance of its own; on the road that obligation follows from Article 2 of the Dutch Motor Insurance Liability Act (WAM).
Records are your only defence when a claim is made
After an incident, what was applied for, agreed and reported is reconstructed afterwards. Keep the worksite protection documents, the confirmation that the line was taken out of service, the attendance record and the communications with train control. Report an incident as quickly as you reasonably can (Article 7:941 of the Dutch Civil Code), do not admit liability and leave the assessment to the insurer.
What does your premium depend on?
- Described activities — protection, supervision or execution
- Annual turnover — the basis for the premium
- Payroll and hired-in labour — number of staff on site
- Sum insured — per event and per year
- Work on a live railway — with or without taking the track out of service
- Excess and extensions — care, custody and control, employers' liability, environmental
Insurers weigh these details differently. That is why comparing pays off.
How we arrange it
- You request a quoteWe take stock of your situation, risk and wishes.
- We compareseveral insurers, on premium as well as conditions.
- You receive a proposalWith an explanation of the differences and the exclusions.
- We arrange the switchIncluding cancellation, so there is no gap in cover.
9.5New policy
9.8Claims handling
Customers rate our service on four aspects: personal service, service delivery, availability and the outcome. The reviews are collected and published by NH1816 and come from customers who have actually taken out a policy with Finass Advies B.V. or reported a claim.
Frequently asked questions
The questions we are asked most often about this.
Does the AVB cover the delay costs the carrier charges?
No, not where there is no damage to property or personal injury. Delay costs without physical damage are pure financial loss and fall outside public and employers' liability insurance. If the delay arises because you damaged a signal or a cable, the delay is consequential loss flowing from covered damage to property and can qualify for payment.
Is employers' liability needed separately?
For work beside the track this is the part you cannot do without. Injury to your own or hired-in staff does not automatically fall under the basic cover for third parties. Many insurers offer it as an extension, for which you declare the wage bill and the number of hired-in workers. Without that extension you bear the loss yourself after an accident at work.
What do clients require?
Rail contractors and infrastructure managers usually require a valid AVB with a minimum sum insured per event, valid certificates for the safety role performed and sometimes that the client is named as co-insured or given an indemnity. Set those contract requirements alongside your policy schedule before you sign; discovering a shortfall during an incident is too late.
I work as a self-employed professional through a rail contractor. Do I need a policy of my own?
Yes. As a self-employed person you are not a subordinate, so the client's liability for employees' mistakes does not apply to you. The client will also almost certainly require an AVB of your own as a condition of contract. Make sure the description of your activities matches the role you actually perform.
Does the cover also apply to work abroad?
Only if the territorial limits allow it. Work within Europe can often be insured, work in the United States and Canada usually cannot. Cross-border rail projects also involve different safety regimes and liability rules. Have the territorial limits adjusted in advance and ask for written confirmation.
Read more
Within Bedrijfsaansprakelijkheidsverzekering
- Bedrijfsaansprakelijkheidsverzekeringthe main page
- Public and employers' liability for work on railways and tracks
- Zakelijk beroeps en bedrijfsaansprakelijkheidsverzekering
- Bedrijfsaansprakelijkheidsverzekering spoorbouw bedrijf
- Allianz zakelijk bedrijfsaansprakelijkheidsverzekering avb
- Aansprakelijkheidsverzekering zzp
- Employer's liability insurance (WEGAS/WEGAM)
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Also relevant
Railway work properly insured?
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About our service
Finass Verzekert is a trading name of Finass Advies B.V. We advise on and arrange non-life insurance on the basis of an objective analysis of several insurers, and receive commission for this from the insurer, which is included in the premium. You pay no separate advice fee. Before you take out cover, we establish your wishes and needs.
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This page was written and checked by an adviser at Finass Verzekert. Last updated on .
The information on this page is general in nature and is not personal advice.
