RAMS
Risk Assessment and Method Statement
The two documents, usually bound as one, that say what could go wrong on a task and exactly how the work will be done to stop it.
RAMS is the site shorthand for a risk assessment and a method statement issued together for a specific piece of work. The risk assessment identifies the hazards, who is at risk, how likely and how serious the harm would be, and the controls that bring the risk to an acceptable level. The method statement is the sequence of work: who does what, in what order, with what plant, access, PPE and supervision, so that the controls in the assessment actually happen on the day.
Principal contractors ask for RAMS before a subcontractor starts, usually as a condition of the induction, and they read them more closely than most subcontractors expect. A RAMS that has been copied from the last job, names the wrong site, or lists controls nobody on the gang has heard of is the single most common reason a start is delayed. A RAMS that has been briefed to the people doing the work, and signed by them, is the single best piece of evidence a contractor has after an incident.
Only the risk assessment is a legal requirement in itself, and only its recording is required once you employ five or more people. The method statement is not named in any regulation. It is, in practice, how every principal contractor in the country discharges its duty to plan, manage and monitor the work, so a subcontractor without one does not get on site.
Where it comes from
- Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 reg.3: suitable and sufficient risk assessment, recorded where five or more are employed.
- Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 reg.15: contractors must plan, manage and monitor construction work under their control so that it is carried out without risks to health or safety.
- HSE guidance L153 (Managing health and safety in construction) and INDG163 (Risk assessment: a brief guide).
Questions people ask
Is a RAMS a legal requirement?
The risk assessment is. Recording it is required once you employ five or more. The method statement is not named in law, but the duty to plan and manage the work is, and a method statement is how that is evidenced. Principal contractors will not let you start without one.
How long should a RAMS be?
As long as it takes to describe the job and its controls specifically, and no longer. Four to eight pages for a typical trade package. Forty pages of generic hazards is a sign nobody expects it to be read.
Who signs a RAMS?
The person who wrote it, the supervisor who will run the work, and every operative who will do it, after a briefing. The operative signatures are the part that matters after an incident.
RAMS, handled on a phone
SiteLynx puts the RAMS, permits, inspections, audits, plant checks and records behind every term in this glossary on the crew's phones, signed on site, with a PDF at the end. 14 days free, no card.
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