A Risk Assessment and Method Statement (RAMS) is the single most requested document on a UK construction site. No principal contractor will let a subcontractor through the gate without one, and CDM 2015 makes it a legal expectation for any construction activity with foreseeable risk.
This guide gives you a free RAMS template you can copy, and walks through every section so the document passes review rather than just ticking a box.
What a UK RAMS must contain
A RAMS is two documents stapled together:
- Risk assessment — what could go wrong, how likely it is, how severe it would be, and what you are doing about it.
- Method statement — the safe sequence of work that puts those controls into practice.
HSE guidance and CDM 2015 expect the following as a minimum:
- Project and site details: address, principal contractor, start and finish dates
- Scope of the works being assessed
- Personnel involved and their competencies (CSCS, CPCS, IPAF, PASMA)
- Hazards identified, scored by likelihood and severity
- Control measures following the hierarchy of control
- The sequence of work, step by step
- PPE required
- Emergency arrangements and first aid
- Signature and briefing record for every operative
The free RAMS template
1. Document control
Document reference, revision number, date, author, and who approved it. Principal contractors reject documents with no revision control because they cannot tell whether they are reading the current version.
2. Project details
Site address, client, principal contractor, principal designer, your company details, and the dates the works are planned for.
3. Scope of works
Two or three sentences describing exactly what you are doing. "Electrical works" is not a scope. "First and second fix electrical installation to twelve flats, including consumer unit replacement and testing" is.
4. Personnel and competence
Names, roles, card numbers and expiry dates. If the person supervising holds SSSTS or SMSTS, say so — it is one of the first things a reviewer checks.
5. Risk assessment table
| Hazard | Who is at risk | L | S | Score | Controls | Residual |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Working at height | Operatives, public | 3 | 5 | 15 | Tower scaffold by trained erector; daily inspection; edge protection; exclusion zone below | 5 |
| Electric shock | Operatives | 3 | 5 | 15 | Safe isolation procedure; lock-off; proving unit; 110V tools | 5 |
| Manual handling | Operatives | 4 | 2 | 8 | Two-person lift over 20kg; trolleys; deliveries staged near point of use | 4 |
| Dust (silica) | Operatives, others | 3 | 4 | 12 | On-tool extraction M-class; FFP3 face-fit tested; wet cutting where possible | 4 |
Score likelihood (L) and severity (S) one to five, multiply them, then show the residual score after controls. Anything with a residual above nine needs additional control or supervisor sign-off.
6. Method statement
Number every step. A reviewer should be able to follow it without knowing your business:
- Site induction and sign-in
- Set up exclusion zone and signage
- Isolate and prove dead / permit obtained
- Erect access equipment and inspect
- Carry out the works in the stated sequence
- Test and inspect
- Clear and clean the area, remove waste
- Sign out
7. PPE, emergency arrangements and sign-off
List mandatory and task-specific PPE. Name the nearest A&E, the site first aider, the assembly point, and the emergency contact. Finish with a briefing record: every operative prints their name, signs and dates it before starting.
The three reasons RAMS get rejected
- It is generic. A template that has not been edited for the actual site is the most common rejection. Name the site, the access, the specific hazards.
- The method does not match the risk assessment. If the assessment says tower scaffold, the method cannot say step ladders.
- No briefing record. A document nobody signed is not evidence that anybody was briefed.
Doing this without evenings of paperwork
SiteClick ships trade-specific RAMS templates for UK sites. Pick the template, edit the hazards for the job, and the site address, personnel and your company branding are filled in automatically. Operatives read and sign it on their phone, and the signed copy is stored against the project — so when the principal contractor asks for the briefing record, you send a PDF instead of hunting through a van.