Free RAMS Template

RAMS template FAQs

• Is this RAMS template free?

  Yes. It is free to download, with no sign-up and no email address needed. Select Download the Word template and the file downloads straight away.

• What format is the template?

  A Microsoft Word document (.docx) of 16 A4 pages, with no macros. It has a cover, document control and eleven numbered sections; the risk assessment is on landscape pages so its columns stay readable. Each prompt is a Word content control: click it and type to replace it. Tables expand as you add rows, and risk references and step numbers update automatically.

• What does RAMS stand for?

  Risk Assessment and Method Statement (sometimes risk assessments and method statements). It is an industry term for presenting the two together.

• What is a RAMS document?

  A document that brings together the task-specific risk assessment (the significant hazards, who may be harmed and how, and the controls) with a method statement describing how the work will be carried out safely, in sequence, using those controls. It is commonly used to brief the people doing the work.

• Are RAMS required by law?

  Health and safety law requires employers, and relevant self-employed people, to make a suitable and sufficient assessment of the risks from their work, and employers with five or more employees must record the significant findings (regulation 3 (opens in a new tab)). RAMS, though, is an industry term: there is no general legal requirement to use a document specifically called RAMS, and CDM 2015 does not prescribe one. Method statements are a practical way to communicate a safe system of work, particularly for higher-risk, complex or unusual work, as HSE’s HSG150 (opens in a new tab) explains. A client, Principal Contractor or project may still ask for combined RAMS as part of its own arrangements.

• What should RAMS include?

  The task and its limits, who is involved and the competence needed, the significant hazards with who may be harmed and how, the controls and any further action, what must be in place before work starts, the resources, the sequence of work with its controls and hold points, welfare and emergency arrangements, what happens if conditions change, and how the RAMS is communicated. Keep it proportionate and specific to the task.

• What is the difference between RAMS and a Method Statement?

  A Method Statement explains how the work will be carried out safely, in a logical sequence. RAMS combines that method with the task-specific risk assessment in one document. Use the standalone Method Statement template where the risk assessment is managed separately. See also Method Statements and RAMS explained and risk assessments and RAMS.

• Do RAMS need a risk matrix?

  No particular numerical risk matrix is prescribed by law; HSE’s risk assessment guidance (opens in a new tab) is about identifying hazards, deciding how likely and serious harm could be, and controlling the risk. Your organisation or client may require its own rating method. The template’s rating columns are optional, so you can apply an established method and record which one you used, or leave them out.

• Who should prepare RAMS?

  Someone with sufficient knowledge of the task, its hazards and controls, the site conditions and the planned work arrangements, often the contractor carrying out or supervising the work. They should draw on relevant input where appropriate, such as from those planning, supervising and doing the work, and from specialists.

• When should RAMS be reviewed?

  When there is reason to think they are no longer valid, or something significant changes: the scope, the hazards, the site conditions, the sequence, the equipment or materials, the people, or the controls. Review them too after an incident or near miss, or if a control proves ineffective. The template’s change, stop-work and review section applies to both the risk assessment and the method.

• Can I use this RAMS template for construction work?

  Yes. It is designed for construction and similar site work, such as installation, maintenance and infrastructure tasks, and sits alongside project arrangements such as the construction phase plan. It is not a document CDM 2015 prescribes, and the same structure can be used for other work where a combined RAMS is useful.