RAMS for Construction: What to Include and How to Get Them Right

The Document Every Subcontractor Gets Asked For

You've won the job, you've agreed the price, and the main contractor sends you a message: "Can you send over your RAMS before you start?" If you've been in construction for any length of time, you've heard this dozens of times. But too many contractors treat RAMS as a box-ticking exercise. Pull up last year's template, change the site name, email it over. Job done.

Until something goes wrong. And when the HSE investigator asks to see your RAMS and finds a document that references a different site, different hazards, and a review date from eighteen months ago, you've got a serious problem.

RAMS stands for Risk Assessment and Method Statement. They're two separate documents that work as a pair. The risk assessment identifies what could go wrong and how you'll control it. The method statement describes how you'll actually carry out the work, step by step, safely.

Under CDM 2015, duty holders must plan, manage, and monitor construction work to ensure it's carried out safely. RAMS are how you demonstrate that planning in writing. Main contractors request them because they have a legal duty to coordinate the work of contractors on their site, and they need to see that you've thought through the risks before you start.

What Goes in the Risk Assessment

A construction risk assessment identifies hazards, evaluates the risk, and sets out the controls. Here's what it should contain:

Hazard Identification

List every significant hazard associated with the activity. Be specific to the actual work, not generic.

• Working at height (specify: from scaffold, ladder, roof edge, MEWP)
• Manual handling (specify: what's being lifted, weights, distances)
• Electrical hazards (specify: live services, temporary supplies, use of power tools)
• Noise and vibration (specify: equipment types and exposure duration)
• Hazardous substances (specify: dust types, chemicals, solvents — reference COSHH assessments)
• Falling objects
• Plant and vehicle movements
• Fire risk from hot works or flammable materials

Who Is at Risk

Not just your own workers. Consider:

• Your operatives carrying out the task
• Other trades working nearby
• Visitors and members of the public
• People in adjacent occupied areas

Existing Controls

What measures are already in place? Site-wide controls provided by the principal contractor count here — edge protection, traffic management, welfare facilities.

Additional Controls

What further measures will you put in place for this specific activity? This is the most important section. Be concrete:

• Good: "Operatives will use a podium step with guardrails for work between 1.5m and 2.5m, inspected before each use"
• Poor: "Appropriate access equipment will be used"

Risk Rating

Use a standard risk matrix. Most construction RAMS use a likelihood x severity matrix (typically 5x5 or 3x3) to assign a residual risk rating after controls are applied.

Present this clearly — a simple table works best:

| Hazard | Severity | Likelihood | Risk Rating | Controls | |--------|----------|------------|-------------|----------|

Some main contractors have their own risk matrix format they want you to use. Ask before you start writing.

Review Date

Every risk assessment needs a review date. This should be the date by which the assessment must be reviewed, not just the date it was written. For construction work, review at each phase change or at least every 12 months, whichever comes first.

What Goes in the Method Statement

The method statement is your step-by-step plan for carrying out the work safely. It should be detailed enough that a competent person could follow it and understand exactly how the work will be done.

Scope of Work

• Clear description of what work is being carried out
• Location on site
• Start and expected completion dates

Sequence of Operations

This is the core of the method statement. Break the work into steps, in order:

1. Set up exclusion zone and signage 2. Erect scaffold to platform level (reference scaffold design/TG20) 3. Install edge protection at leading edge 4. Carry out [specific works] from scaffold platform 5. Remove materials and equipment 6. Dismantle scaffold under supervision of CISRS-qualified scaffolder

Each step should reference the controls from the risk assessment. The method statement and risk assessment must cross-reference each other; they're a pair, not standalone documents.

Equipment and Materials

• List all plant, tools, and equipment required
• Note any specific requirements (rated slings, tested harnesses, calibrated tools)
• Include PPE requirements specific to this activity

Competency Requirements

• What qualifications, training, or experience do operatives need?
• CSCS card requirements
• Task-specific training (IPAF, PASMA, confined space, abrasive wheels)
• Supervisory arrangements — who's in charge on site?

For more on how competency requirements relate to CDM duty holder responsibilities, see our dedicated guide.

Emergency Procedures

• What to do if something goes wrong during this specific activity
• Rescue plan for work at height (mandatory under WAHR 2005)
• First aid arrangements
• Emergency contact numbers

Activity-Specific vs Generic RAMS

There are two types, and you need to know when to use each:

Activity-specific RAMS: written for a particular task on a particular site. Required whenever the work involves significant risk or site-specific hazards. Examples: installing steelwork at height on the new retail unit at 45 High Street, carrying out hot works in the basement of the refurbishment at St James's Court.

Generic RAMS: cover a standard activity that your company carries out regularly in similar conditions. Examples: general electrical first fix in new-build residential, standard plasterboard installation.

Generic RAMS are a valid starting point, but they must be reviewed and adapted for each site. A generic method statement for electrical first fix doesn't account for the specific site layout, access restrictions, or concurrent works happening around you. You can use it as a template, but the final version must reflect the actual site conditions.

If you're managing RAMS across multiple projects, keeping track of which documents apply where — and which need updating — gets complicated quickly. ComplianceVault lets you store RAMS against specific clients and projects, set review reminders, and include them in compliance packs alongside your insurance and training records.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

These are the failures that get flagged during audits and HSE inspections:

• Copy-paste from another site: the single most common problem. If your RAMS reference a different project name, address, or principal contractor, they're worthless
• No review dates: a risk assessment without a review date hasn't been maintained as a live document
• Too vague: "appropriate PPE will be worn" tells nobody anything. Specify what PPE, what standard, and who provides it
• Not task-specific: a generic "working at height" RAMS doesn't cover the specific height, access method, duration, and rescue plan for this particular task
• No signatures: RAMS should be signed by the author, the reviewer (usually a manager or safety adviser), and acknowledged by the operatives carrying out the work
• Never updated: if site conditions change mid-project and your RAMS don't reflect that, they're out of date

The Review and Sign-Off Process

Before work starts, your RAMS should go through this process:

1. Author writes the RAMS based on a site visit and pre-start information from the principal contractor 2. Internal review: a competent person within your organisation reviews the RAMS for accuracy and completeness 3. Submission to the principal contractor or client for review and acceptance 4. Briefing: the RAMS are briefed to all operatives involved in the work. Each person signs to confirm they've read, understood, and will follow the procedures 5. On-site availability: a copy of the RAMS must be available on site at all times during the work

Step 4 is where many contractors fall short. Writing a thorough RAMS means nothing if the people doing the work haven't read them. Toolbox talks or pre-start briefings are the right forum for this.

Summary

• RAMS are a pair — the risk assessment identifies hazards and controls, the method statement describes how the work will be done safely, step by step
• Be specific, not generic. Reference the actual site, actual hazards, and actual controls. Copy-paste RAMS from another project are a compliance failure waiting to happen
• Every risk assessment needs a review date and a clear risk rating. Every method statement needs a detailed sequence of operations and competency requirements
• Brief your operatives on the RAMS before work starts and get signed acknowledgement. A document nobody has read protects nobody
• Review and update RAMS when site conditions change — they're live documents, not filing cabinet fillers