RAMS checklist
Pro Site Docs · Free tool · No sign-up
Twenty-two things a principal contractor or client reviewer looks for before a RAMS is accepted. Tick them off against your draft; progress saves in your browser.
Cover and control
Risk assessment
Method statement
Communication
What this checklist is for
Most RAMS that get rejected by a principal contractor are not rejected for being wrong - they are rejected for missing something the reviewer has to see: a named supervisor, a rescue plan, a residual risk score, a briefing record. Run a draft against this list before it goes in. Tick what is there, fix what is not. Progress is saved in your browser so you can come back to it, and the print button gives you a clean sheet to attach to the review.
The difference between complete and good
A RAMS can tick every box and still be useless if it is a template with the job name changed. The test a reviewer applies is: could someone who has never met you carry out this work safely from this document? That means the sequence is real, the hazards are the ones on this site, the controls are specific, and the people named are the people who will be there. See how to write a RAMS for the writing itself and who signs a RAMS for the approvals.
The items reviewers reject most
In our experience: no residual risk score; "appropriate PPE" instead of a list; no rescue plan for work at height or confined space; the emergency section copied from a different site; and no briefing record. None of them take long to fix, and all of them cost a day when the RAMS bounces.
FAQs
What must a RAMS include?
A risk assessment with hazards, who is at risk, controls and risk scores, and a method statement with the sequence of work, plant and equipment, access, permits, supervision, competence, PPE, emergency and welfare arrangements, plus a briefing record showing the workforce has been told.
Is a RAMS a legal requirement?
The law requires a risk assessment (Management Regulations 1999) and, under CDM 2015, a safe system of work; for many tasks a written method statement is the practical way to show that. Principal contractors and clients almost always require a RAMS before work starts.
How long should a RAMS be?
As long as the job needs and no longer. A simple task might be four pages; a complex lift or excavation might be fifteen. Length copied from a template is a warning sign to reviewers.
Who should write the RAMS?
Someone competent in the work being done - normally the contractor carrying it out, with the site supervisor involved. It is then checked by someone senior and, on most sites, reviewed by the principal contractor before work starts.
Get the documents ready-made
If the draft is missing half the list, start from a template that already has the structure. Our RAMS templates by trade come with every section on this checklist laid out, or take the Method Statement Library.
Editable Word RAMS for groundworks, roofing, scaffolding, electrical, plumbing, demolition and more - risk matrix, method, briefing record and review section included. From £9.
See RAMS templatesBuilt by Pro Site Docs from the HSE guidance and regulations named on the page. Published 3 September 2026. It is a planning aid, not a substitute for a competent person's assessment of the actual work.
Templates for this
General guidance only. This article explains how the rules generally work in UK construction. It is not advice for your specific site, task or project, and it is not legal advice. Your own risk assessment, method statement and arrangements must be prepared and checked by a competent person for the actual work being done.