RAMS for Scaffolding

Scaffolding is one of the highest-risk activities on any UK construction site. Falls from height remain the leading cause of fatal injury in the construction industry, and poorly erected or inadequately inspected scaffold is a recurring factor in both fatalities and serious injuries. A Risk Assessment and Method Statement brings these risks under a structured, documented control regime before any tube is lifted.

Legal Basis

The duty to produce a risk assessment sits in Regulation 3 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 (MHSWR), which requires every employer to make a suitable and sufficient assessment of risks to employees and others affected by their work. The Work at Height Regulations 2005 impose additional specific duties — selecting appropriate equipment, planning and supervising work at height, and ensuring collective protection is used in preference to personal protective measures wherever reasonably practicable. CDM 2015 requires a Construction Phase Plan covering the wider project; it does not itself require a scaffolding RAMS, though the RAMS will typically feed into that plan.

Key Hazards and Controls — Hierarchy Order

**Falls from height** are the primary hazard. The hierarchy demands that the need to work at height is eliminated wherever practicable — for example by completing work at ground level before erection. Where height work is unavoidable, collective protection takes priority: full-boarded working platforms with double guardrails (top rail at 950 mm minimum, mid-rail, and toe board) must be installed before any work continues above. Personal fall arrest equipment (harness and lanyard) is a last resort during the erection and dismantling phase itself, not a substitute for edge protection once the scaffold is complete.

**Structural failure** is controlled through design. Standard tube-and-fitting scaffold serving routine residential or commercial façade work should comply with TG20:21 (the NASC guide), which provides compliant design solutions without the need for an engineer. More complex structures — truss-out scaffolds, heavy-duty loading bays, bridging scaffolds, or anything outside TG20 scope — require a bespoke design by a competent structural engineer before erection starts. Ties must be installed to the design spacing and verified; never removed without written authorisation and a structural review.

**Erection and dismantling** must be carried out by operatives holding a valid CISRS (Construction Industry Scaffolders Record Scheme) card at the appropriate level. This is the recognised competence standard in the UK and should be evidenced in the RAMS as a precondition for deployment.

**Inspection** is non-negotiable. The scaffold must be inspected by a competent person before first use, every seven days thereafter, and following any event likely to have affected stability — alteration, adverse weather, or impact. Results must be recorded on a written report under Schedule 7 of the Work at Height Regulations 2005 and kept available on site.

**Falling objects** must be controlled through toe boards, debris netting, or brick guards on working platforms. An exclusion zone below the scaffold must be established and enforced — barriers, signage, and where necessary a banksman — so that the area beneath the work face is not accessible during erection, use, or dismantling.

**Loading** must be managed to the design capacity. Scaffold boards and standards are rated; overloading is a common trigger for progressive collapse. The RAMS must state the intended loading class (to BS EN 12811) and include a control requiring materials not to be stockpiled beyond that limit.

Common Reasons This RAMS Gets Rejected

The most frequent failings are: no CISRS card numbers for named operatives; a generic TG20 reference with no confirmation the structure actually falls within TG20 scope; inspection intervals stated incorrectly (some documents still say "weekly" without noting the post-event trigger); exclusion zones described vaguely rather than dimensioned or tied to the working height; and PPE listed as the primary control for edge protection during erection rather than being correctly positioned at the foot of the hierarchy.

What the Document Must Include

A compliant scaffolding RAMS should set out: the scope and location of the scaffold; the design basis (TG20 compliant or bespoke engineering drawing reference); named CISRS-competent erectors; the inspection schedule and record system; platform boarding, guardrail, and toe board specification; tie pattern and approval process for removal; loading class and materials handling controls; exclusion zone dimensions and enforcement method; emergency and rescue arrangements; and site-specific hazards identified during the pre-erection survey, including overhead utilities, ground conditions, and any pre-2000 fabric that may require a CAR 2012 asbestos survey before fixings are drilled.