Construction RAMS Template: What to Include and How to Use One Correctly
A construction RAMS template gives you a structured starting point — but it is only as useful as the thought you put into completing it. A RAMS document combines a Risk Assessment and a Method Statement into a single package. The risk assessment identifies hazards and evaluates risk; the method statement describes, step by step, how the work will be carried out safely. Together they form the primary tool for communicating safe systems of work on construction sites across the UK.
The Legal Foundation
The duty to assess risk sits in Regulation 3 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, which requires every employer (and self-employed person) to make a suitable and sufficient assessment of the risks their work creates. On construction projects, CDM 2015 (Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015) adds a further layer: Principal Contractors must ensure construction phase plans are in place, and contractors must cooperate and provide information — including RAMS — that feeds into site safety management.
If your work involves hazardous substances (solvents, dust, silica, adhesives), COSHH 2002 (Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002) requires a substance-specific assessment that should be embedded in or attached to your RAMS. Working at height elements must reflect the Work at Height Regulations 2005.
No single regulation mandates the words "RAMS document," but the combination of the above duties makes a written risk assessment and method statement the accepted standard for most construction activities.
What a Construction RAMS Template Must Cover
A well-structured template will prompt you to address every section below. Leaving sections blank or copying generic text is one of the most common reasons RAMS are rejected by Principal Contractors.
1. Project and Task Information
- Company name, project address, Principal Contractor
- Date, document reference and version number
- Scope of the specific task (not just "groundworks" — be precise)
2. Persons at Risk
Identify everyone who could be affected: your own operatives, other trades on site, members of the public, and any vulnerable persons nearby.
3. Hazard Identification
List the actual hazards present for this task. Common construction hazards include:
- Manual handling and musculoskeletal injury
- Working at height (falls from ladders, scaffolds, leading edges)
- Excavation collapse and buried services
- Noise and vibration (HAV/WBV)
- Hazardous substances (cement dermatitis, silica dust, isocyanates)
- Struck-by incidents (plant, falling objects)
- Electricity (overhead lines, buried cables)
4. Risk Evaluation
Assign likelihood and severity ratings — typically on a 1–5 scale — to produce an initial risk rating before controls are applied. This is your uncontrolled risk.
5. Control Measures (Use the Hierarchy)
This is the most critical section and where most templates fall short. Controls must follow the correct hierarchy:
| Priority | Type | Example |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Eliminate | Remove the hazard entirely — redesign the task |
| 2 | Substitute | Use pre-mixed product instead of dry silica-containing material |
| 3 | Engineering | Local exhaust ventilation, edge protection, trench support |
| 4 | Administrative | Safe systems of work, permit to dig, inductions, supervision |
| 5 | PPE | Last resort — RPE, hearing protection, safety footwear |
PPE must never appear as the only control for a significant hazard. The template should force you to work through the hierarchy before reaching PPE.
6. Residual Risk Rating
After controls are applied, re-evaluate the risk. The residual risk should be low or tolerable before work proceeds.
7. Method Statement
Set out the sequence of work in clear, numbered steps. Each step should be practical enough that an operative who has read it knows exactly what to do and in what order. Include:
- Site set-up, exclusion zones and signage
- Plant, tools and equipment to be used
- Step-by-step task sequence
- Emergency procedures specific to the task
- Disposal of waste (especially hazardous waste)
8. Competence and Training
State what training, qualifications or experience operatives must hold — CPCS/NPORS cards, IPAF licences, asbestos awareness, first aid, etc.
9. Supervision and Review
Name the person responsible for supervising the task. State when the RAMS will be reviewed — at minimum if the scope changes, a near-miss occurs, or conditions on site change significantly.
10. Signatures
The document should be signed by the person who prepared it and by the operatives who have read and understood it — a toolbox talk sign-off sheet is the standard way to evidence this.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Copying and pasting a generic template without adapting it to the actual site conditions. Principal Contractors will reject a RAMS that refers to equipment not used or hazards not present.
- Treating PPE as the primary control for high-risk activities.
- No residual risk rating, making it impossible to judge whether the controls are sufficient.
- Failing to brief operatives. A RAMS that operatives have never seen is not a safe system of work — it is paperwork.
- Out-of-date documents. If the task or site changes, revise and re-brief before work restarts.
Keeping Your Template Useful
A template is a prompt, not a shortcut. The HSE's own guidance makes clear that a "suitable and sufficient" risk assessment reflects the real work, the real environment and the real people involved. Use your template to structure your thinking — then make sure every field reflects the specific job in front of you.