RAMS · Welding & Hot Works
RAMS for Welding & Hot Works
A combined Risk Assessment & Method Statement — the site-ready document a principal contractor or client asks for before you start. Below: what a RAMS for welding and hot works must contain, why they get rejected, and the hazards it has to cover, or generate one for your exact job in a couple of minutes.
What a compliant RAMS must contain
- A hazard table with a likelihood × severity score before and after controls
- Controls in the correct hierarchy (eliminate → substitute → engineering → admin → PPE last)
- A numbered, step-by-step method statement for the actual task
- PPE to BS EN standards, emergency arrangements, and an operative sign-off
Why a RAMS for welding and hot works gets rejected
- Residual risk dropped from high to low on PPE or 'competent operatives' alone
- Generic hazards that could apply to any job
- No method statement, or one too vague to follow on site
- The wrong legal basis cited (e.g. 'CDM 2015 requires a RAMS')
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Check yours freeWelding & Hot Works hazards it must cover
Welding and hot works — MIG, TIG, MMA and gas welding, cutting, grinding and brazing, on site and in the shop — brings hazards a RAMS has to address:
- welding fume — reclassified by HSE in February 2019 as a Group 1 carcinogen, so LEV is required for ALL indoor welding and RPE alone is no longer acceptable
- fire and explosion from sparks and hot slag, including concealed voids (hot work permit and a fire watch after work stops)
- arc eye and skin burns from UV radiation, including to people working nearby
- compressed gas cylinders — storage, securing, flashback arrestors and leaking hoses (DSEAR 2002)
- electric shock from the welding set, worsened in damp or confined conditions
Generate your RAMS in minutes
Built to the correct published standard for welding and hot works — specific controls, the right legal basis, a review date and a sign-off section you can operate.
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Do you need a RAMS for welding and hot works?
A combined Risk Assessment & Method Statement — the site-ready document a principal contractor or client asks for before you start. For welding and hot works — MIG, TIG, MMA and gas welding, cutting, grinding and brazing, on site and in the shop — it is the document a client, principal contractor or inspector expects to see, grounded in MHSWR 1999 reg 3 (HSE) — the combined risk assessment + method statement contractors submit.
What makes a RAMS for welding and hot works fail?
The usual reasons: Residual risk dropped from high to low on PPE or 'competent operatives' alone; Generic hazards that could apply to any job; No method statement, or one too vague to follow on site. RAMSReady generates one to the correct published form and avoids these.
How fast can I get a RAMS?
A couple of minutes. Describe the job, and RAMSReady writes a RAMS for your exact welding and hot works live against the correct standard — with a review date and a sign-off/records section.