What does RAMS stand for?

RAMS stands for Risk Assessment and Method Statement. It's two documents usually presented together as a single package for a specific task or activity on site. The risk assessment identifies the hazards and controls; the method statement describes the safe sequence of work, step by step.

On most UK sites — domestic refurbishments, commercial fit-outs, maintenance jobs, principal-contractor-led projects — RAMS is the document a main contractor or client will ask for before letting your team start work.

Why are RAMS required on UK sites?

UK health and safety law expects employers and the self-employed to assess the risks of their work and to plan how those risks will be controlled. The framework comes from the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, which require a suitable and sufficient risk assessment for work activities.

On construction sites, the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 (CDM 2015) add further duties on principal contractors and contractors to plan, manage and monitor work safely. RAMS is the practical way most contractors evidence that planning. Even where the regulations don't strictly mandate the exact format, the commercial reality is that main contractors and clients won't let you on site without them.

Risk assessment: the thinking step

A risk assessment works through the hazards involved in a piece of work, who could be harmed and how, the likelihood and severity of harm, and the controls you'll put in place to reduce that risk to an acceptable level.

A typical risk assessment includes:

  • The task or activity being assessed
  • The hazards (working at height, manual handling, dust, electricity, etc.)
  • Who is at risk (your team, other trades, the public)
  • Existing controls already in place
  • A risk rating (likelihood × severity)
  • Additional controls needed to reduce the risk
  • Who's responsible for each control

Method statement: the doing step

A method statement is the safe sequence of work. It takes the controls identified in the risk assessment and turns them into a practical step-by-step plan: how the job will actually be done, in what order, by whom, with what equipment.

A good method statement covers:

  • Scope of work and site location
  • Personnel and their roles
  • Equipment, tools and PPE required
  • The sequence of tasks, in order
  • Access and egress arrangements
  • Emergency procedures
  • Welfare and first aid
  • Sign-off arrangements

Who needs RAMS?

In practice, anyone working on a UK construction or maintenance site. That includes principal contractors, subcontractors, the self-employed, small trades and one-person bands. If a main contractor or client asks for RAMS before you start a job, you need them — regardless of the size of your business.

For very small or low-risk jobs (a domestic repair, a quick maintenance call) you may not need a formal RAMS document, but you're still expected to have assessed the risks. For anything on a commercial site or under a principal contractor, expect to be asked.

How to write a RAMS document

Keep it specific to the job. The most common mistake is reusing a generic RAMS template without updating the site details, the team, or the actual sequence of work. A site manager spotting a copy-paste RAMS will reject it.

A simple approach for small contractors:

  • Start with the specific task and site
  • List the realistic hazards for this job — not every hazard ever
  • Describe the controls in plain English
  • Write the method as a numbered sequence anyone could follow
  • Note the PPE, tools and equipment needed
  • Get every worker on the job to sign it before starting
  • Keep the signed copy somewhere you can find it again

RAMS sign-off: the bit that's often missed

A RAMS document on its own doesn't prove anyone read it. Sign-off — a signature, a digital confirmation, a dated record against each worker or subcontractor — is how you evidence that the people doing the work have been briefed on the controls and the method.

If a method changes mid-job (different access, different equipment, weather), the team should be signing off the updated version, not the original. Version control matters.

How often should RAMS be reviewed?

Review RAMS whenever the work changes, the site conditions change, an incident or near miss highlights a gap, new equipment is introduced, or new team members join the job. For ongoing work, a periodic review (often monthly) is sensible.

Common RAMS mistakes to avoid

  • Reusing a generic template without updating site, task or team details
  • Listing every conceivable hazard rather than the realistic ones
  • Writing the method statement in vague language ("work safely at height")
  • Forgetting to capture sign-off from every worker on the job
  • Keeping the document and the sign-off record in separate places
  • Not updating the RAMS when the method changes mid-job

How Graftly helps

Graftly lets UK trades and small contractors create RAMS, risk assessments and method statements from a mobile-first app, capture sign-off from workers and subcontractors, and export tidy PDFs when a main contractor or client asks. Documents sit per site, so you can pull up the current version and its sign-off history in seconds — without digging through email or a shared drive.

See what you can build, take a look at how Graftly works, or get in touch with us if you'd like a walkthrough.