Accreditation Room / RAMS templates
Risk assessments & method statements
RAMS templates that survive a principal contractor's review
Twenty five editable Word documents covering the trades and hazards small UK contractors actually deal with. Written in the format we use for our own housing association framework work, blank and ready for your company details.
What a RAMS actually has to do
The law requires a suitable and sufficient risk assessment (Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, regulation 3). The method statement is industry practice, but almost every principal contractor and housing association asks for one before you set foot on site. Together they have to show three things: you have identified what can go wrong on this job, you have decided how to stop it, and the people doing the work have been told.
That last part is where most RAMS fail. A well written document that nobody signed is treated as though it was never briefed.
Why generic RAMS get sent back
- No scope of works. The reviewer cannot tell what the document covers, so they cannot tell whether the controls fit.
- No residual risk. A risk rating before controls with nothing after them does not show the controls work.
- Emergency arrangements that say "call 999". Work at height needs a rescue plan before anyone clips on. Suspension trauma does not wait for the fire service.
- Competence left blank. Which cards, tickets and training does the task need? The reviewer is checking you know.
- No briefing record. Names, roles, signatures and dates of the people who were briefed.
What is in the library
Eleven trade tasks
General refurbishment, working at height (roofs and guttering), plastering and rendering, painting and decorating, plumbing and heating, electrical installation, flooring, void property clearance, joinery and carpentry, wall and floor tiling, groundworks and drainage.
Fourteen hazard topics
Manual handling, COSHH, asbestos (stop-work procedure), hand and power tools, ladders and stepladders, lone working, driving for work, fire and hot works, noise, hand-arm vibration, confined spaces, petrol cut-off saws and silica, generators, and working in occupied properties.
Every document includes
- Header block for your company, site, reference, assessor and review date
- Scope of works
- Significant findings table — activity, hazard, persons affected, initial risk, control measures, residual risk
- Step by step method statement
- PPE, competence and training requirements
- Emergency arrangements specific to the task
- Declaration and an eight-line briefing record
Plus a contents and how-to-use sheet explaining what to change for each job.
What you still have to do
A template is a starting point, not a finished RAMS. Before issue, add your company details, the site address, the specific plant and materials you are using, and anything unusual about the site — access, occupants, services, restrictions. Then brief it and get it signed. That takes minutes against the hours of writing from scratch.
If you would rather we wrote a site-specific RAMS for a particular job, it is £85 each, or three for £225. Send us the job details.