Hot Works Permit and RAMS: What UK Contractors Need to Know

Hot works — welding, cutting, grinding, brazing, or any process that generates heat, sparks or flame — sit at the top of the list of activities that cause preventable fires and serious injuries on UK sites. If you carry out hot works, you almost certainly need both a hot works permit and a RAMS. Understanding how they fit together (and why they are not the same thing) is fundamental to working safely and lawfully.

What Is a RAMS?

A RAMS is a Risk Assessment combined with a Method Statement. These are two separate documents that are commonly produced together:

• Risk Assessment — identifies the hazards, evaluates the likelihood and severity of harm, and records the control measures you will put in place. For most workplaces this duty flows from Regulation 3 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999.
• Method Statement — describes, in plain sequential steps, exactly how the work will be carried out safely, who is responsible, and what controls will be applied at each stage.

For hot works specifically, the risk assessment must address fire, explosion, burns, fume inhalation, electric shock (for arc welding), and the structural effects of heat. If the work involves hazardous fumes — welding on galvanised steel, cutting stainless, or using flux — COSHH 2002 requires a separate substance-by-substance assessment alongside your broader risk assessment.

If the work is at height — grinding on a scaffold, welding a structural beam — the Work at Height Regulations 2005 also apply and your RAMS must reflect that.

What Is a Hot Works Permit?

A hot works permit (sometimes called a permit to work) is a site management control, not a legal document in its own right. It is a formal, time-limited written authorisation that confirms:

• the exact location and nature of the hot works
• that the area has been inspected and made safe before work starts
• that fire-watch arrangements are in place during and after the work
• who has authorised the work, who is carrying it out, and when the permit expires

Permits are typically valid for a single shift or defined period and must be signed off by a competent person — often a site manager, facilities manager, or principal contractor representative — before the first spark flies.

How the Permit and RAMS Work Together

They are complementary, not interchangeable. Think of it this way:

Your RAMS sets out how hot works will be conducted safely as a matter of principle. The hot works permit confirms that those principles are applied correctly in the real conditions on that specific day. If conditions change — different location, different material, change in nearby activities — the permit is reviewed or reissued, and your RAMS may need updating too.

Fire Safety: Who Is Responsible?

This is where many contractors get confused. Fire safety in the workplace is governed by the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, which is administered by the Home Office (via fire and rescue authorities), not the HSE. The responsible person for the premises — often the client, landlord, or principal contractor — must ensure that hot works do not compromise the fire risk assessment for the building.

As a contractor, you are not usually the responsible person for the premises, but you have a duty to cooperate with whoever is. Ignoring the fire safety arrangements is not just dangerous — it can expose you to enforcement action under the FSO.

Practical Controls: Using the Right Hierarchy

When writing the hot works section of your RAMS, work through the hierarchy properly:

1. Eliminate — can the work be done cold? Could connectors, mechanical fixings or adhesives replace welding?
2. Substitute — use lower-temperature processes where technically feasible.
3. Engineering controls — fire-resistant screens and blankets, local exhaust ventilation (LEV) for fume, remove or protect combustible materials within a minimum 3-metre radius.
4. Administrative controls — hot works permit system, pre-work inspection, trained operatives, designated fire watcher for at least 60 minutes after works finish (some insurers require longer — check your policy).
5. PPE — welding visors, flame-retardant clothing, RPE appropriate to the fume identified in your COSHH assessment. PPE is always the last resort, never the first.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Producing a generic RAMS that is not specific to the site, material or process. A hot works RAMS for MIG welding structural mild steel is not suitable for plasma cutting stainless in a food factory.
• Treating the permit as a tick-box formality. The pre-work area check must actually happen.
• Forgetting the fire watch. Most fires attributed to hot works ignite after the operatives have left. A 60-minute post-work fire watch is standard industry practice.
• Overlooking COSHH. Welding fume was reclassified as a Group 1 carcinogen — adequate controls, including LEV, are expected as standard, not optional.
• Not coordinating with the premises fire risk assessment. Always speak to the responsible person before starting.

The Bottom Line

A hot works permit and a RAMS are both required for most hot works activities in the UK — they serve different purposes and neither replaces the other. Get both right, base them on the actual conditions and materials involved, and make sure every operative on the job understands what is in them before work begins.