What is a RAMS document?
RAMS stands for Risk Assessment and Method Statement. It's a single document that explains the hazards of a particular job, how you'll control them, and the step-by-step way you'll do the work safely. If you're a contractor or subcontractor, it's usually the paperwork you're asked for before you're allowed on site.
[DISCLAIMER — DRAFT, FOR SOLICITOR REVIEW] This template is a starting point only. You are responsible for assessing the risks of your own work, and for making sure any document you produce from it is suitable and sufficient for the task, the site and the people involved. It is not health and safety advice.
The two halves
| Risk assessment | Method statement | |
|---|---|---|
| Answers | What could go wrong, and how likely and serious is it? | How exactly will the job be done safely, step by step? |
| Contains | Hazards, who is at risk, control measures, risk rating | Sequence of works, responsibilities, equipment, PPE |
Who asks for a RAMS?
Usually the principal contractor or the client, before you start work on their site. Larger contractors often won't let you through the gate without one, and some will reject a RAMS that looks generic or copied from another job.
Is a RAMS a legal requirement?
The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 require employers and the self-employed to carry out a suitable and sufficient risk assessment. If you employ five or more people, the significant findings must be written down. A method statement isn't named in the regulations, but under the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 contractors must plan, manage and monitor their work — and most principal contractors make a RAMS a condition of site access.
What goes in a RAMS
- Job details — company, client, site address, description of works
- Scope — exactly what's included and excluded
- Programme and working hours
- People and their training
- Risk assessment — each hazard, who could be harmed, controls and a risk rating
- Method statement — the work in the order you'll actually do it
- PPE, plant and equipment
- Hazardous substances, permits and isolations
- Emergency arrangements and welfare
- Briefing record — signatures from everyone working to it
Who writes it?
The contractor doing the work — you, if it's your job. It should be written for that specific job and site, by someone who understands the work.
How to write one that gets accepted
- Make it specific: the real site address, the real scope, the real sequence of work.
- Write controls a person can check — "barrier off the work area", not "take care".
- Score each risk after your controls are in place.
- Reference any separate assessments, such as COSHH or working at height.
- Brief your team and get the briefing record signed before you start.
- Update it if the job, site or team changes.
Get started
Download our free RAMS template in Word, or the separate method statement template.
Answer a few questions about the job and get a completed RAMS in Word, ready to send.