10 original questions for the Safety management exam, each with four options, the correct answer, an explanation and a source. They cover all 4 modules: prevention, compensation files, the premium (cotisation) and sustainable development on site. The official exam lasts 1 h 30 and the pass mark is 60%.
Updated October 2, 2026
How to use them
Answer each question before you open the answer, as you would in the exam room.
Always read the explanation, even when you were right: it names what makes the other options tempting.
Note the module of each mistake. It tells you where to go back, and the exam page lists every module with its elements.
These are examples we wrote, not real exam questions: the RBQ does not publish the number of questions or the weight of the modules. The November 2024 information sheet hands out the industrial accidents act, the occupational health and safety act and the Safety Code for the construction industry. The Regulation respecting the prevention program was repealed on 1 October 2025: do not study it as law in force.
On the Deschaillons excavation, 40 construction workers will pass through over the month, but at most 8 will be present at the same time. Must the prime contractor have a prevention program drawn up before opening the site?
AOption A: Yes, because 40 workers will pass through the site over the month
BOption B: Yes, because the program applies to sites with high-risk tasks
COption C: No, because 8 workers at the same time stay under the threshold of 10
DOption D: No, because the program is required only from 20 workers at the same time
Show the answer and explanation
Correct answer: C. No, because 8 workers at the same time stay under the threshold of 10
The threshold in s. 198 of the Act respecting occupational health and safety is read on the construction workers planned at the same time at some point during the work, not on the month’s total. With at most 8 workers at the same time, the threshold of 10 is not reached and the program is not required.
A slab opening was left uncovered overnight. This morning, six people will be walking next to it during the day. The material to cover it is in stock. Which decision is best?
AOption A: Have each person who walks nearby wear a harness
BOption B: Post a danger notice and ask everyone to be careful
COption C: Cover the opening before the crew arrives
DOption D: Tape off the opening and increase supervision
Show the answer and explanation
Correct answer: C. Cover the opening before the crew arrives
The hazard is dealt with before relying on personal equipment or warnings. The cover removes the void; the harness, the danger notice and the taped-off area leave the opening uncovered and only limit the exposure or the consequence.
On a gymnasium site, four employers each have five or six construction workers, for 22 people present at the same time. One of them thinks no committee is required, because he has only five workers himself. Is a site committee required?
AOption A: No, the threshold applies to each employer separately.
BOption B: No, the health and safety representative stands in for it.
COption C: Yes, if each employer agrees in writing before the work.
DOption D: Yes, the workers of all the employers are added together.
Show the answer and explanation
Correct answer: D. Yes, the workers of all the employers are added together.
The threshold of 20 applies to all the construction workers employed at the same time on the site, all employers combined. With 22 people, the site committee is required, even if no employer reaches 20 workers alone.
A bricklayer is injured falling from scaffolding; he admits he misplaced his foot. What is the effect of his own clumsiness on his rights related to the employment injury?
AOption A: He must first show that someone else is at fault
BOption B: His rights are reduced in proportion to his own negligence
COption C: His rights are suspended until the employer’s investigation ends
DOption D: His rights are exercised regardless of anyone’s liability
Show the answer and explanation
Correct answer: D. His rights are exercised regardless of anyone’s liability
Rights related to an employment injury are exercised regardless of anyone’s liability. The worker does not have to prove a third party’s fault, and his own ordinary clumsiness neither reduces his rights nor suspends them during the investigation.
A carpenter from Dégelis remains unable to do her job because of her injury. Her income replacement indemnity is equal to what percentage of her weighted net income?
AOption A: 75% of the weighted net income.
BOption B: 80% of the weighted net income.
COption C: 90% of the weighted net income.
DOption D: 100% of the weighted net income.
Show the answer and explanation
Correct answer: C. 90% of the weighted net income.
The income replacement indemnity is equal to 90% of the weighted net income that the worker earns annually from her job. It is not a different percentage of that income, nor the entire income.
An electrician is injured on a site by a tool dropped by a worker from another company, a third party. The employer fears the effect of this cost on its file and asks the CNESST in writing to spread it across all the units. What must it show?
AOption A: That the worker was already handicapped before the accident.
BOption B: That the injury results from the worker’s gross negligence.
COption C: That the mere presence of a third party justifies the sharing.
DOption D: That making it bear this cost alone would be unfair.
Show the answer and explanation
Correct answer: D. That making it bear this cost alone would be unfair.
Charging the worker’s employer is the basic rule. The Commission can share it among the employers of certain units or of all the units when it would make an employer unfairly bear the cost of an accident attributable to a third party, or would unfairly burden it. The mere presence of a third party is therefore not enough. The employer’s request must be in writing and filed within one year of the accident.
A roofer from Princeville is a member of a mutual prevention group. What data does the CNESST rely on to set this member’s rate?
AOption A: The wages and injury costs of his business alone since its creation
BOption B: The wages and injury costs of all the members of the group
COption C: The value of the contracts signed by the members of the group
DOption D: The wages of employers in the same unit who are not in the group
Show the answer and explanation
Correct answer: B. The wages and injury costs of all the members of the group
For a member, the CNESST pools the payrolls and injury costs of all the employers in the mutual group and uses them to set each one’s rate. The file of the member’s business alone, the value of contracts or the experience of employers who are not members does not replace these data.
For three weeks, a self-employed insulator carries on at the same time, for two manufacturers in Princeville, each in its own plant, activities similar to those of their establishments. Is she considered a worker employed by either of them?
AOption A: Yes, of the one that pays her the highest amount
BOption B: Yes, of the one that first retained her services
COption C: No, she is not the worker of either one
DOption D: Yes, of both manufacturers at the same time
Show the answer and explanation
Correct answer: C. No, she is not the worker of either one
A self-employed worker who carries on activities at the same time for several persons falls under the exceptions in s. 9. She is therefore not considered a worker employed by any one of them. Neither the amount paid nor the order of engagement changes that result.
Module 4: Applying Sustainable Development Act principlesRecallDocuments provided
A pregnant worker gives her employer the prescribed certificate: the conditions of her work involve physical dangers for the unborn child. What can she ask of her employer?
AOption A: To be assigned to tasks that she can perform without that danger
BOption B: To stop working as soon as the certificate is given, with no prior assignment
COption C: To receive the income replacement indemnity as soon as the certificate is given
DOption D: To be reassigned permanently to another trade on the site
Show the answer and explanation
Correct answer: A. To be assigned to tasks that she can perform without that danger
With the prescribed certificate, a pregnant worker may ask to be assigned to tasks that involve no danger to the unborn child or to herself, tasks she is reasonably able to perform. She may stop working only if that assignment is not made immediately. The CNESST indemnity comes only after the first five working days of stoppage, and the assignment is temporary: she then returns to her regular job.
Module 4: Applying Sustainable Development Act principlesRecall
A municipality wants neighbourhood planning decisions to be made at the level of authority closest to the citizens affected. Which principle of the Act does this approach illustrate?
AOption A: The subsidiarity principle
BOption B: The participation principle
COption C: The access to knowledge principle
DOption D: The partnership principle
Show the answer and explanation
Correct answer: A. The subsidiarity principle
The subsidiarity principle holds that powers and responsibilities should be given to the appropriate level of authority, as close as possible to the citizens and communities concerned. Access to knowledge concerns information and research.