What RAMS stands for, what it must contain, the UK regulations behind it, and the three ways contractors produce one — with the trade-offs of each.
Frequently asked questions
- What does RAMS stand for?
- Risk Assessment and Method Statement — two documents combined.
- Is a RAMS legally required in the UK?
- The acronym isn't named in law, but the duties are. MHSWR 1999 requires a suitable and sufficient risk assessment; CDM 2015 requires construction work to be planned, managed and monitored. A RAMS demonstrates both.
- Who writes the RAMS?
- The contractor doing the work — written by a competent person with practical knowledge of the task. On multi-contractor sites the principal contractor reviews and coordinates them.
- How long does a RAMS take to write?
- From a blank PDF template: 2–4 hours for a single-trade task, longer for complex work. Using a guided builder with trade-specific hazard libraries: 5–10 minutes.
- How long should a RAMS be?
- Long enough to be site-specific, short enough to brief on the morning. A single-task RAMS is usually 6–15 pages. 40-page generic RAMS get rejected more than they get read.
- Can I use a free template?
- Yes — as a starting point. A blank template forces you to identify every hazard and control from memory. The risk is omissions: missing hazards, wrong scoring, PPE-only controls. A guided builder removes that risk by loading the right hazards for your trade.