Does your restaurant or bar have 20 or more workers? A prevention program is mandatory.
Since October 1, 2025, Quebec's Regulation respecting prevention and participation mechanisms (RMPPE) applies to every establishment in the province — restaurants and bars included. Full compliance is required by October 1, 2026.
And in food service and bars alike, the 20-worker threshold arrives fast: part-time staff count. A kitchen crew, floor service, an evening shift and a few weekend employees are often enough to push an establishment into the higher tier.
What the law requires based on your headcount
19 workers or fewer per establishment:
- An action plan (risk identification and measures)
- A health and safety liaison officer (ALSS)
20 workers or more per establishment:
- A written prevention program, updated annually
- A health and safety committee (employer and worker representatives)
- A health and safety representative (HSR) designated by the workers
The tier is calculated per establishment, not per company. Two locations with 15 workers each: two action plans. One location with 22: a full prevention program.
Restaurant and bar risks, across the RMPPE's 6 categories
Your program must cover six risk categories. Restaurant or bar, every one of them fills up:
- Physical — burns (fryers, ranges, steam), cuts, slips on greasy floors, kitchen noise, heat
- Chemical — cleaning products and degreasers (WHMIS), gas from cooking equipment, carbon monoxide (gas cooking equipment, poor ventilation)
- Biological — food handling, sanitation, organic waste management
- Ergonomic — prolonged standing, lifting cases and stock pots, repetitive prep motions
- Psychosocial — service-rush pace, harassment, customer incivility and violence (alcohol service, late evenings), exposure to domestic or family violence
- Safety — slicers, mixers, knives, gas equipment, tight circulation spaces
No joint sector-based association serves food service or bars. Unlike the automotive or municipal sectors, there is no free guide built for your reality: every operator has to build their own program.
What a non-compliant establishment risks
The CNESST can request your prevention program during any intervention — a planned visit, a worker complaint or an accident. Under the AOHS, a corporation faces a fine of $2,115 to $4,226 for a first offense, and up to $84,519 where a worker's health, safety or physical integrity is compromised. These amounts are indexed every year and climb sharply for repeat offenses.
The fine isn't the real cost, though. The real cost is a workplace accident documented nowhere, an empty incident register in front of an inspector, and a due-diligence defense that can't be made.
Source: CNESST, Cadre d'émission des constats d'infraction, Annex 2 “Guide des sentences”, legal person — 2026 indexed amounts.
Where to start
Answer 10 questions about your establishment. The diagnostic gives you:
- your exact tier (action plan or prevention program)
- your top 3 priority gaps
- your fine exposure at the 2026 indexed amounts