Is a RAMS a legal requirement?
UK law does not name the document RAMS. It does require a suitable assessment and a plan for construction work. Here is what that means on a small job.
Clients ask for a RAMS as if the title itself were in the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. It is not. The Act, and the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, require you to think about the work and to put controls in place. If you employ five or more people, the significant findings of the assessment have to be recorded. Plenty of smaller firms record them because a principal contractor will not let them start without a piece of paper, and because a briefing needs something to point at.
Where the job is construction, the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 expect the contractor to plan, manage and monitor the work. A RAMS is one way to write that plan for a particular task. It is not the construction phase plan, and it is not a design.
What people mean when they ask
They usually want three things in one pack:
- the hazards and who might be harmed
- the order of work, including the step that has to happen before anyone is at risk
- a sheet the operatives can sign after they have been briefed
That is a risk assessment and a method statement together. The RAMS template sets out the headings. The trade pages, such as roofing and security guarding, show what those headings look like when the work is specific.
When a short note is not enough
A one-line method is hard to defend if someone can fall, be electrocuted, or be left alone on a night response. The Work at Height Regulations 2005, the Electricity at Work Regulations 1989, and the duty to assess violence and lone working are not switched off because the job is only a day. Domestic clients are not a free pass.
What the document cannot do
A RAMS does not make the work lawful, and it does not replace a competent person who has looked at the site. RamsBox drafts are a starting point. They are not health and safety advice, and RamsBox is not affiliated with HSE.
If you are deciding who should put their name to it, read who should write a RAMS. If the argument on site is about which half of the pack matters, read risk assessment or method statement.