RAMS for Landscapers and Grounds Maintenance Workers: A Practical Guide
If you carry out landscaping or grounds maintenance commercially — whether that's mowing, strimming, tree work, hard landscaping or installing drainage — you almost certainly need RAMS. That means a Risk Assessment combined with a Method Statement: the risk assessment identifies what could go harm people; the method statement sets out how you will do the work safely. Together they demonstrate that you have thought the job through before anyone picks up a tool.
Who Needs RAMS and Why
Your core legal duty to assess risk comes from Regulation 3 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999. It applies to any employer and to self-employed people whose work could affect others. In practice, this means a sole-trader gardener with a single domestic client still needs a suitable and sufficient risk assessment — it just needn't be as detailed as one for a council grounds maintenance contract.
Clients — particularly local authorities, housing associations, schools and commercial estates — will often ask for RAMS before they let you on site. Beyond satisfying the client, good RAMS protect your workforce, reduce the chance of incidents and show an enforcement officer that you take your duties seriously.
Hazards That Should Always Appear in a Landscaping Risk Assessment
Grounds maintenance involves a specific, repeatable cluster of hazards. Your assessment must address the ones that actually apply to each task — generic documents that don't reflect the real work are not considered suitable and sufficient.
Plant and machinery Ride-on mowers, strimmers, chippers and chainsaws all create contact, projection and entanglement risks. Controls include guarding, operator competence checks (e.g. LANTRA or City & Guilds certificates for chainsaws), exclusion zones and hearing protection where noise exposure cannot be reduced by other means.
Hand-arm vibration (HAV) Regular use of strimmers, hedge cutters and plate compactors can cause hand-arm vibration syndrome (HAVS). Under the Control of Vibration at Work Regulations 2005, the exposure action value is 2.5 m/s² A(8) and the limit value is 5 m/s². Track daily exposure for each operative, rotate tasks, use lower-vibration equipment where possible and carry out health surveillance if workers regularly reach the action value.
Noise The Control of Noise at Work Regulations 2005 set an action value of 80 dB(A). Machinery-intensive grounds work easily exceeds this. Provide suitable hearing protection, but engineer noise down first where you can — fit silencers, schedule noisy tasks to limit duration, and consider lower-noise equipment.
Manual handling Lifting turf rolls, sleepers, aggregates and potted stock causes a significant proportion of musculoskeletal injuries in the trade. Use mechanical aids (sack trucks, mini-loaders) where practicable and train operatives in good technique. The Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992 require you to avoid hazardous manual handling where reasonably practicable.
Pesticides and fertilisers If you apply herbicides, fungicides or fertilisers, the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 (COSHH) require a substance-level assessment for each product based on its safety data sheet. Pesticide application also requires operators to hold an appropriate PA certificate of competence under the Plant Protection Products (Sustainable Use) Regulations 2012.
Working near buried services Digging, coring or driving stakes carries a risk of striking gas, electric or water infrastructure. Always use a cable avoidance tool (CAT and genny), consult utility records and follow HSG47 guidance.
Traffic and pedestrians On public parks, roadsides or car parks, segregation of work areas from vehicles and the public is essential. Use barriers, cones, signage and — where required by the local authority or Highways — a traffic management plan.
Work at height Hedge cutting from platforms, tree maintenance and gutter clearing all engage the Work at Height Regulations 2005. The hierarchy is: avoid working at height; where you cannot, use collective protection (scaffold, MEWPs) before personal fall protection. A ladder or step platform must only be used where the risk assessment shows it is the most suitable option for the task.
Writing the Method Statement
The method statement sits alongside the risk assessment and describes the sequence of work in enough detail that an operative new to the site could follow it safely. For a typical grounds maintenance task, include:
- Scope of work — exactly what is being done and where
- Sequence of operations — step by step, in order
- Plant, tools and materials to be used
- Competence requirements — certificates, training, supervision levels
- Controls in place — linked back to the risk assessment findings, in hierarchy order
- Emergency arrangements — nearest hospital (with trauma unit if relevant), first aid provision, incident reporting
Keep the language plain. A method statement written in dense legal prose is unlikely to be read by the people who need it most.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
| Mistake | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Copying a generic template without editing it | Does not reflect the actual task or site — not suitable and sufficient |
| Listing PPE as the first control | PPE is the last resort, not the solution |
| No COSHH assessment for glyphosate or other products | COSHH is a separate, specific duty |
| Ignoring HAV exposure tracking | HAVS is irreversible; early monitoring is the only protection |
| No task-specific controls for seasonal hazards (e.g. wet ground, low winter light) | Risk changes — your assessment should be reviewed when conditions change |
Reviewing and Updating Your RAMS
A risk assessment is not a one-time document. Regulation 3 requires you to review it when there is reason to believe it is no longer valid — a new contract site, a change in method, an incident or near-miss, or the introduction of new equipment. Build review into your workflow, not as a box-tick but as a genuine check that the controls are still working.
Good RAMS for landscaping and grounds maintenance are not about paperwork — they are about making sure every operative goes home in the same condition they arrived.