Trades / Full-service restaurants
NAICS 722511 · mid injury risk
Insurance for full-service restaurants
Full-service restaurants log 2.2 recordable injuries and illnesses per 100 full-time workers, 4 percent below private industry's 2.3 and number 25 of 37 trades on this site. A middling injury record means the premium is driven as much by what you do for clients as by what happens to your own crew.
- 1Full-service restauran 2.2 per 100
- 2Private industry 2.3 per 100
- 3Rank of 37 #25
What goes wrong in this trade
Cuts, burns and slips in the kitchen; for guests, slips and food-borne illness, and where alcohol is served, dram-shop liability that standard forms exclude.
The checklist for full-service restaurants
- GLGeneral liabilitySlips, burns and food-borne illness claims.Not required by federal law. Required in practice by most contracts, landlords and many state contractor licences.
- WCWorkers' compensationRequired once you have employees in nearly every state.Required by state law in nearly every state once you have employees; the employee-count threshold and exemptions are set state by state and are not reproduced here.
- HNOAHired and non-owned autoStaff running errands or deliveries in their own cars.Not required by law; commonly added to GL or auto.
Red tags mark policy types that a law or licence usually requires; green tags are what contracts, landlords and clients ask for. Tailor the list for your situation (no employees, no vehicles, alcohol) with the checklist tool.
What the injury record means for the premium
At 2.2 cases per 100 workers this trade sits in the middle of the 37 trades here, with 36 percent of cases involving days away, restriction or transfer. The workers' compensation class rate will be noticeable but not dominant; the balance of the premium is general liability and, where the checklist lists it, commercial auto. The approximate fatality rate of 1.4 per 100,000 FTE is unremarkable and will not drive the quote.
The nearest trades by injury rate are exterminating and pest control services (2.2), motor vehicle towing (2.3), roofing contractors (2.4); the same payroll insured in those classes would start from a similar workers' comp base.
Legal, licence or contract?
Fixed by law
- Workers' compensation once you have employees, in nearly every state (threshold and exemptions set by the state; not reproduced here).
- State minimum auto liability on any vehicle the business operates.
- Liquor liability, where the state liquor licence requires it.
Asked for by contracts and licences
Sources: BLS Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses, Table 1 (2024), incidence rates per 100 full-time workers; BLS SOII Table 3 (2024), hours worked by detailed industry; BLS Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries, Table A-1 (2024). Fatal rate per 100,000 FTE is derived (count ÷ hours × 200,000,000) and approximate. Checked 2026-10-23.