What are RAMS in Health and Safety?
While risk assessments are used to identify and control hazards across all workplaces, method statements are used for high-risk activities. Method statements are most commonly used in the construction industry, where high-risk activities will often include things like operating heavy machinery, demolition or working at height. A method statement will include a step-by-step guide to carrying out the activity safely. Method statements can also take into account your company’s wider health and safety procedures, including training and reporting, to offer the most complete overview of how tasks should be carried out.
In this blog, we’ll explore what RAMS are in more detail, their importance in ensuring the health and safety of workforce, when and how they should be used, and how online RAMS Software can benefit your workplace.
Are RAMS a legal HSE requirement in the UK?
In the UK, employers have a legal requirement to conduct and record workplace risk assessments if their organisation has more than five employees. Even if your company is smaller than this, it is still good practice to carry out risk assessments, though not compulsory.
When it comes to RAMS, a similar approach applies. According to the Health and Safety Executive, completing RAMS is not a legal requirement. That said, the HSE still recommends that you carry them out, as RAMS ‘are proven to be an effective and practical way to help plan, manage and monitor construction work’.
Who is responsible for writing RAMS?
Several people might contribute to writing RAMS, but creating these documents is ultimately the responsibility of the employer. At the same time, involving key team members in the overall process can ensure a more thorough risk assessment is carried out. Employees who regularly operate dangerous machinery or are involved in working on a construction site will have the best perspective on the day-to-day hazards they might encounter. They will likely be able to suggest where control measures are most effective or where they need to be tightened, and so can help make sure your method statement is comprehensive. It is then your responsibility to make sure these changes are carried out.
This responsibility also extends to the contractors that you might work with, especially within construction. Contractors may use RAMS to demonstrate their compliance with industry safety standards, which you can then cross-reference with your safety documents. This ensures consistency across the workplace when it comes to hazard identification and mitigation, allowing you to make the most informed, safe choice when choosing partners to work with.
When should RAMS be issued?
As we’ve discussed, RAMS don’t need to be created for every activity. For a lot of workplace tasks, identifying hazards through a thorough risk assessment and taking appropriate steps to mitigate these is enough. However, where risks cannot be managed with usual control measures, you should create RAMS.
First, make sure you have completed a robust risk assessment of the specific area of work before any activity has been carried out. This risk assessment should be included in the RAMS documentation, along with any other relevant information; for example, any additional equipment to be used, which staff are working in this area and any hazard-specific first aid processes. Tasks should then be broken down into logical, step-by-step instructions with enough detail to cover every step of the process in the method statement. This should be shared with every employee involved in the task, regardless of how often they undertake the activity. Where possible, you should also ask those individuals to read and sign the RAMS, as this will give you an audit trail for compliance.
Like any part of the risk assessment process, creating RAMS is not a one-and-done exercise. For it to be an effective risk management tool, RAMS documentation should be widely shared, accessible to everyone who needs them and regularly updated in collaboration with employees, supervisors and senior management.
How can your business benefit from using RAMS?
Making use of Risk Assessment Method Statements will help improve safety standards in your workplace, but there are other ways your business can benefit from implementing RAMS.
- Improve your decision-making
Sometimes your teams need to make decisions quickly, without waiting for senior management or supervisor approval. With a comprehensive method statement in place, your employees can find the answers they need to make safe decisions and prevent delays.
- Give your team more clarity and avoid misunderstandings
With a method statement, the correct and safe way to carry out a task is laid out in a step-by-step format. This removes confusion and prevents room for error, which is crucial in an environment where mistakes can be dangerous or fatal.
- Improve efficiency and productivity
Having clear instructions and answers to common questions in your method statement means that your employees don’t need to hazard a guess or experiment when carrying out a task. A good method statement that is informed by your risk assessment will allow any trained staff member to complete an activity safely.
- Reduce staff injuries and sick days
By reducing errors and potentially dangerous scenarios, good RAMS will help reduce staff absence and more serious incidents. Improving your team’s health and safety in this way can also save you money by reducing costs like sick pay, temporary staff cover and even compensation.
- Reduce your risk of fines and other penalties
Using RAMS as part of your overall safety management will help ensure your compliance with your industry’s safety body. This could be compliance with CDM 2015 for example. Showing that you are actively taking steps to reduce harm in the workplace via RAMS, and ensuring that everyone understands your safe system of work (SSOW) can also help you avoid fines and other legal penalties.
- Protect your business reputation
Good risk management shows that you put the health and safety of your employees first. RAMS can help demonstrate your commitment to good safety practices and support your internal and external reputation as a safe place to work.
How can RAMS software help?
It’s important that the right people in your teams can access RAMS quickly and easily. With digital health and safety tools like Notify Technology’s RAMS software, managing these documents is straightforward.
With our online RAMS software, you can create online risk assessment and method statement templates, tailored to the needs of your organisation. These documents are controlled by you, ensuring consistency and compliance across your organisation and supply chain.
Here’s how we can help:
- Boost efficiency and sustainability
Say goodbye to paper-based systems and embrace a digital approach that’s faster, eco-friendly, and hassle-free. Create, reuse, and repurpose templates to save time on repetitive tasks while streamlining the process of crafting and distributing method statements. The result? Increased productivity and reduced environmental impact.
- Strengthen communication across teams
Improve collaboration between project stakeholders by using a centralised platform for sharing RAMS. Reduce the risk of miscommunication within your workforce and supply chain, ensuring everyone stays informed, aligned, and prepared to carry out tasks safely.
- Improve risk management with confidence
Take control of risk management through a centralised, structured approach. Ensure that risks are identified, assessed, and mitigated effectively. RAMS documents provide clarity, so project managers can oversee safety measures with precision and peace of mind.
- Simplify document control and ensure compliance
Digital SHEQ management systems keep your organisation’s documentation under control. By ensuring that only approved and up-to-date RAMS are utilised, you’ll enhance CDM compliance and avoid inconsistencies in your safety processes.
- Track compliance with digital audit trails
Empower employees and contractors to read and digitally sign RAMS, creating a verifiable record of compliance. This feature not only fosters accountability but also ensures you have a transparent audit trail to demonstrate adherence to safety standards.
Notify’s digital tools are here to help make you, your employees and your workplace as safe as possible. If you’d like to find out more about how Notify can improve your risk management strategy with online RAMS Software, request a free personalised demo today.