RAMS for Lifting Operations

Lifting operations — cranes, MEWPS, telehandlers, gin wheels, chain blocks — sit within some of the most heavily regulated activity on any UK construction site. Equipment failures and suspended-load incidents continue to feature in HSE fatal accident statistics year on year. A well-constructed RAMS does not guarantee safety, but a poor one is one of the clearest indicators that the planning behind the operation is also poor.

Legal Basis

The duty to assess risk derives from the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, regulation 3, which requires every employer to make a suitable and sufficient assessment of the risks to employees and others affected by their work. Lifting operations add a further layer under the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998 (LOLER), which requires every lifting operation to be properly planned by a competent person, appropriately supervised, and carried out in a safe manner. LOLER also mandates thorough examination of lifting equipment (at least every 12 months for most equipment) and lifting accessories — slings, shackles, eyebolts, spreader beams — at least every six months. Current examination certificates must be on site before work begins.

Key Hazards and Controls

Work through the hierarchy. The first question is always whether the lift can be eliminated — can the load be pre-assembled at ground level to reduce the number of lifts, or can a fixed hoist replace a mobile crane? Where a crane remains necessary, substitute a remote-slinging arrangement or a load with certified lift points rather than improvised rigging.

Engineering controls come next: exclusion zones marked with barriers or banksman-enforced cordons that prevent personnel and public from entering the swing radius and load path. The zone must account for the maximum working radius at the load's rated weight, not simply the footprint of the crane. Overhead power lines require a specific safe system — approach distances under HSE GS6 (Avoiding danger from overhead power lines) / ENA EREC G39 apply; the primary control is isolation of the line by the Distribution Network Operator before work enters the exclusion distance. Operatives must never attempt DNO or high-voltage isolation themselves and must never treat a line as dead without a written Electrical Safety Document from the network operator. PPE is not a control for overhead line risk.

Administrative controls include a written lift plan for every non-routine or complex lift, pre-use checks by a competent slinger/signaller, toolbox talks covering hand signals and communication arrangements, and a named appointed person with overall responsibility for the operation. No person must stand under a suspended load at any stage.

PPE — hard hat, high-visibility vest, safety footwear — is the last line of defence and must be specified in the RAMS as supplementary to, not instead of, the above controls.

Common Failings That Lead to Rejection

The most frequent reasons a lifting RAMS is returned or refused on site are: no reference to LOLER or current thorough examination certificates; exclusion zones described in vague terms ("adequate clearance") rather than defined distances; the appointed person not named or their competence not evidenced; SWL and working radius figures absent or inconsistent with the lift plan; hand-signal or radio protocol not specified; and no provision for an altered lift if site conditions change (wind speed, ground conditions, changed load weight).

What the Document Must Include

A compliant lifting RAMS must set out: the scope and method of the lift; the competence and appointment of the appointed person, slinger, and banksman; equipment to be used with plant reference numbers and current examination certificate dates; SWL at the required working radius; exclusion zone dimensions and how they will be enforced; overhead line distances and DNO isolation confirmation if applicable; weather and ground-bearing limits; a step-by-step lift sequence; emergency arrangements including what to do if a load becomes snagged or the crane suffers a mechanical failure mid-lift; and a pre-lift briefing record.