RAMS
By the Riskora Editorial Team · Last reviewed
RAMS stands for Risk Assessment Method Statement — a single document that combines a hazard assessment with the safe sequence of work used to control those hazards.
The acronym RAMS is industry shorthand. It is not a phrase that appears in UK legislation, but the two underlying duties — to assess risk and to plan a safe method of work — both do.
A RAMS document brings the two together so a principal contractor can see, in one place, what could go wrong and how the contractor intends to prevent it. On most UK construction sites it is the document a subcontractor is expected to submit before they begin work.
A complete RAMS will name the work, identify each significant hazard, set out who is at risk, score the residual risk after controls, and describe the work step by step. It will also list PPE, plant, emergency arrangements and the people responsible for supervision.
Why it matters
Without a RAMS, most principal contractors will not let work start. A weak or generic RAMS is the single most common reason documents are rejected at induction — usually because the method statement clearly describes a different job than the one about to be carried out.