RAMS template for landscapers
Landscaper RAMS should reflect the mix of excavation, ground preparation, planting, paving, fencing and maintenance on the particular site. Buried services, mini-excavators, cutting dust, vibrating tools, manual handling, pesticides, uneven ground, weather and members of the public create changing risks. CDM 2015 applies where the work is construction, while PUWER and COSHH cover equipment and hazardous substances. Locate services before stakes, augers or excavation enter the ground and physically separate people from plant. Use wet cutting or extraction for paving, plan handling of slabs and bulk materials, and allow only trained and authorised users to apply professional pesticides. Reassess after heavy rain or design changes, and secure incomplete excavations, materials and machinery whenever the site is left unattended.
- ✓Typical landscaper tasks: Excavation and trench work, Manual handling of materials, Use of portable power tools, Cutting and grinding
- ✓Sequence of works, plant, permits and PPE
- ✓Editable Word and print-ready PDF
In short
A RAMS (risk assessment and method statement) is a combined document that identifies the hazards of a specific job, the controls that reduce the risk, and the step-by-step safe method of work. UK law requires a suitable and sufficient risk assessment; main contractors usually require a RAMS before you start on site.
What it must include
- ✓Scope of works, site address, dates and who is involved
- ✓Hazards, who could be harmed and how
- ✓Control measures and the risk rating before and after
- ✓Sequence of works from preparation to completion
- ✓Plant, tools, permits and PPE
- ✓Competence, supervision and emergency arrangements
- ✓Briefing and sign-off by the people doing the work
You stay the duty holder: review the document for your site before work starts. SitePaper is a drafting tool, not a consultancy.