RAMS should explain the risks and how to do the work safely. The people doing the work need to be able to follow them. Use the checks below where they apply to the activity. This guidance covers Great Britain; Northern Ireland has separate legislation.
What the law requires
CDM 2015 does not impose a blanket requirement for a document called RAMS. The general duty on employers to make a suitable and sufficient risk assessment comes from the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, regulation 3. Employers with five or more employees must record the significant findings; smaller employers still have to assess and control risks.
CDM also matters. Contractors must plan, manage and monitor their work, and a construction phase plan is required. Some work needs specific written arrangements: CDM regulation 20 requires these before demolition or dismantling begins. HSE's construction guidance explains method statements and written arrangements for demolition, dismantling and structural alteration. Other activity-specific regulations can require assessments or plans too. A client's or principal contractor's RAMS submission rules can also be a condition of starting work.
Start with the actual activity
Name the location, the boundaries of the work, the people affected, access, work nearby and any restrictions from the principal contractor. A document that could be sent unchanged to another site has probably missed the point. Compare the described work with the requirements issued for that work and with the current construction phase plan.
Connect hazards, controls and sequence
For each significant hazard, identify who could be harmed and how, the controls already in place and any further action. Give each further action an owner and a deadline, and say who checks the controls before work starts. These are practical review prompts from HSE's risk assessment guidance, rather than a legally prescribed RAMS table layout.
The method should give the order of work, including set-up, changeovers, inspection and removal. Mentioning a fragile roof is not enough if the method never explains how people will be protected before reaching it.
Explain why the remaining risk is acceptable
Start with avoiding the hazard, then consider safer alternatives and controls at source. Prioritise protection for everyone over measures that depend on each individual. This follows the general principles of prevention.
If you use residual risk scores, explain how the controls support the rating. Regulation 3 does not prescribe a numerical scoring matrix. PPE, training and supervision can contribute to controlling risk, but writing “PPE” or “competent operatives” is not enough to justify a low score. State what is needed, how it will work and how it will be checked. Do not automatically reduce the severity rating: ask whether the possible consequences have actually changed.
Say who is responsible
State who supervises, who carries out specialist tasks, what skills, training, experience or permission they need, and who checks that conditions remain safe. A job title may not be enough when someone needs to make a quick decision. Say who briefs the team and how changes are passed on, so everyone uses the accepted version.
Confined spaces: arrange rescue before entry
Avoid entry where possible. If entry is necessary, assess the particular space, explain the safe system of work and have suitable emergency and rescue arrangements in place before entry. Describe communications, the rescue method, trained people and equipment for that location. “Call 999” alone is not a rescue plan. HSE's confined-space guidance explains why relying only on emergency services is insufficient; Confined Spaces Regulations 1997, regulation 5 sets the emergency arrangements duty.
Electrical work: plan to work dead
Check that the method addresses safe isolation, securing against reconnection and proving dead at the point of work, including other supplies and stored energy. Identify who is competent and authorised to do this. HSE's electrical safe-working guidance, HSG85 explains the precautions. A note to “switch off” is not enough.
Live work where danger may arise is exceptional. It must meet all three conditions in Electricity at Work Regulations 1989, regulation 14: making the conductor dead is unreasonable in the circumstances, working on or near it live is reasonable, and suitable precautions prevent injury. A permit alone does not satisfy those conditions.
Work at height: collective protection before harnesses
Avoid work at height where reasonably practicable. Otherwise prevent falls, then minimise their distance and consequences where risk remains. At each stage, consider collective protection, such as guardrails, before personal protection. If a harness system is needed, explain its suitability, anchorage and rescue arrangements. HSE's work at height guidance sets out that order and the need to consider evacuation and rescue.
Hazardous substances: COSHH, asbestos and lead
Check substances used and those created by the work, such as silica dust or welding fume. Identify exposure routes, prevention or control measures, and monitoring or health surveillance where required. A safety data sheet alone does not assess the actual task. HSE's COSHH assessment guidance explains the assessment and control process.
Asbestos and lead are covered by separate regulations, not COSHH. Where relevant, check the asbestos information for the work area and the required assessment and plan of work; use HSE's asbestos guidance. For lead, check the exposure assessment and controls against HSE's lead guidance. The RAMS should identify and refer to the specialist information needed, rather than assume it exists.
Check what the document cannot prove by itself
This free review checks one document. It cannot check the RAMS against your permit process, temporary works design, programme or company rules because it does not have them. Your project review still needs to make those checks. The PlanOps RAMS Review Standard sets out which checks need only the RAMS and which need your project information. It also explains how each check affects the score. Download its printable checklist if you are reviewing by hand.
A competent person with the right skills, knowledge and experience for the work still needs to decide whether to accept the RAMS. They need the site information to do that. Record the decision and any changes requested. A score cannot make that decision for them.
AI findings can be incomplete or wrong. Check them against the document, current guidance and site conditions. RAMS Review does not certify legal compliance or authorise work. Employers and other dutyholders retain their responsibilities; getting an AI review or a principal contractor's acceptance does not transfer those duties. Review the assessment when conditions change or there is reason to doubt it remains valid.
Guidance checked against the linked sources on 6 October 2026.