Professional indemnity insurance (BAV) for a self-employed health and safety expert
You identify risks and advise, but you rarely decide. If something does happen, the first question is what you had seen and the second is what you were entitled to stop.
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In brief
As a self-employed safety expert you are hired for work for which the client remains responsible: co-ordination during the construction phase of a building project, support for a health and safety co-ordinator, investigation after an incident, workplace inspections or drawing up work permits. In doing so you act as an auxiliary of an employer that itself carries a heavy duty of care under Article 7:658 of the Dutch Civil Code. When that employer is held liable, it then looks to you.
That makes your cover question different from most advisory professions. The loss at stake is personal injury, whereas professional indemnity insurance is basically intended for financial loss without injury or damaged property. So ask before you sign whether the policy also insures injury arising from a mistake in your advice or co-ordination. If it does not, a combination with a liability insurance for self-employed professionals is essential. How the AVB works in outline is set out on the hub page on the BAV.
Finally, watch your description of role. A health and safety co-ordinator for the construction phase has a statutory task, but not automatically the authority to stop work or send a crew home. If you are judged on the result rather than on your efforts, you carry a risk you cannot control. Agencies doing this work with several advisers will find their starting point at professional indemnity for safety consultancies.
This page deals with one situation. The full overview is on Compare professional indemnity insurance (BAV).
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What to look out for
Four points that matter more to a self-employed safety expert than the premium does.
Record your authority, not just your tasks
Set out in the assignment what frequency of inspections has been agreed, to whom you report and what you may do if a risk is not resolved: report it, escalate it or stop the work. Without that agreement, it will be assumed after an incident that you saw everything and did nothing. Keep your inspection reports and the responses to them; they are the evidence that you raised the issue.
An accident brings more than a civil claim
A serious accident at work is followed by an investigation by the inspectorate and sometimes by the public prosecutor. Fines and penalties are not insurable, and the costs of defending enforcement or criminal proceedings fall outside a liability policy. Arrange a separate business legal expenses insurancefor that, and check that it includes the criminal law module.
Be precise about what you have not assessed
You attend for half a day a week at a site that changes constantly. Describe for each visit which activities and zones you looked at and which were shut down or not accessible. A report containing only findings is read afterwards as approval of everything else, including work that only started after you left.
What the policy does not pay out
Outside the cover are administrative fines and penalty payments, even where a client tries to pass them on to you, redoing your own inspection or report including repayment of fees, and liability under assurances that a situation complies with the law. Intent and wilful recklessness are excluded. The statutory basis for that is Article 7:952 of the Dutch Civil Code.
What does your premium depend on?
- Annual turnover: the usual basis for calculation
- Working environment of your clients: building site, industry or office environment
- Role per assignment: advising, co-ordinating or investigating
- Registration and level of training: intermediate or higher safety expert level
- Injury arising from advice errors included: determines whether your main risk is covered
- Retroactive and run-off periods: accidents sometimes come to light years later
Insurers weigh these details differently. That is where your saving is.
What is covered
| Situation | AVB | BAV |
|---|---|---|
| A site manager falls through an opening that you did not report during your last round | No | Provided that |
| Work is at a standstill for three weeks because your work permits were not ready in time | No | Yes |
| During an inspection you knock over a measuring cabinet and damage the cabling behind it | Yes | No |
| A subcontractor who is not your client holds you responsible for the health and safety plan under which he worked | No | Provided that |
| The client passes on the Labour Inspectorate's fine to you | No | No |
| Your laptop with all your inspection files is stolen from your car | No | No |
This division explains why safety experts who visit building sites hold both policies alongside each other.
Frequently asked questions
This is what people ask us most.
May I fill the role of prevention officer as an external adviser?
Article 13 of the Dutch Working Conditions Act assumes that an employer is assisted by expert employees of its own. External assistance comes into play where that expertise is not available internally. So record in the assignment why you are being engaged and which tasks you are taking over. That is not merely a formality: in a dispute, that description determines what you can be held responsible for.
The main contractor wants me to sign his health and safety plan. What does that mean?
With a signature you confirm that the plan comes from you or has been assessed by you. So add which assumptions and which project phase the plan covers, and that it needs updating if the work changes. Do not sign a document stating that the work will proceed safely. That is an obligation as to result and it falls under the guarantee exclusion.
I had reported the risk, but nothing was done with it. Am I then in the clear?
Your position is then strong, provided the report can be evidenced and reached the right person. A remark on the shop floor will be disputed. An email with a date and a recipient will not. If a serious risk persists after your report, escalate in writing to a higher level and record that you did so. Doing nothing after spotting a problem can still be held against you.
What if I am injured myself at a site?
Then this is not your policy. The client may well be liable: Article 7:658(4) of the Dutch Civil Code extends the duty of care to people who carry out work outside an employment relationship in the course of its business, and self-employed people can fall within that. For the loss of your own income, a disability insurance the appropriate cover.
Every situation is different. For these situations we have a separate page.
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