RAMS (Risk Assessment and Method Statement)

RAMS is a combined document pairing a task risk assessment with a method statement setting out how work will be carried out safely.

RAMS stands for Risk Assessment and Method Statement, and refers to two related documents commonly produced together before construction or higher-risk work begins. The risk assessment identifies hazards and the controls needed to reduce risk, while the method statement (sometimes called a safe system of work) describes step by step how the task will be done and by whom.

Under the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, employers must assess risks to workers and others. RAMS are the practical evidence that this has been done for a specific activity, and principal contractors routinely require them from subcontractors before allowing work to start on site.

Good RAMS are task and site specific rather than generic, and they should be briefed to the operatives carrying out the work, with a record of who has read and understood them.