Paperwork · 10 min read

Scaffolding RAMS: risk assessment and method statement guide

A RAMS. Risk Assessment and Method Statement, is the document a principal contractor asks for before you're allowed on site, and the one you'll wish you'd written properly if anything goes wrong. Most scaffolders reuse an old one and hope it still fits; this guide covers what should actually be in it, who writes and signs it, and how it should link to the paperwork you already produce.

RAMS work alongside, not instead of, your handover certificate and statutory inspections, see our guide to scaffold tags, handover certificates and inspection records for how those pieces fit together.

What a RAMS actually contains

A RAMS is really two linked documents. The risk assessment identifies hazards and how you're controlling them; the method statement describes, step by step, how the work will actually be carried out. Together they should let someone who wasn't on the pricing call understand exactly what's being built, how, and what could go wrong.

Section	What it covers
Project details	Site address, client/principal contractor, scaffold description, dates
Scope of works	Erection, alteration, and dismantle of what, and to what standard (TG20:21 compliant or bespoke design reference)
Risk assessment	Hazards, who's affected, existing controls, residual risk rating, further action
Method statement	Sequence of work from delivery to dismantle, including access, exclusion zones and emergency arrangements
Resources	Plant, PPE, and the CISRS card level required for each role on the gang
Emergency arrangements	Rescue plan for a fall, first aid provision, nearest hospital, site emergency contacts
Sign-off	Author, reviewer/approver, and a briefing record for every operative who read and understood it

Who writes and signs it

The RAMS should be written by someone who actually understands the job and the hazards involved, typically the scaffolding contractor's supervisor or contracts manager, not lifted wholesale from a template and left unedited. On larger firms a health and safety advisor may draft the generic sections, but the site-specific detail (access, ground conditions, adjacent hazards) has to come from whoever knows this particular site.

Author. The person who actually wrote the site-specific content, named and dated.
Approver, usually a director, contracts manager or competent senior person who reviews and signs it off before work starts.
Principal contractor. Reviews and accepts the RAMS as part of their CDM 2015 duties before allowing work to start.
Every operative on the gang. Signs a briefing record confirming they've read, understood and will follow it, dated before they start work.

A RAMS with no briefing signatures is close to useless as evidence, it shows a document existed, not that anyone on the gang actually knew what was in it.

Hazards a scaffolding RAMS should cover

The specific hazards will vary by job, but a scaffolding RAMS that misses any of these is probably too generic:

Falls from height during erection, alteration and dismantle (the core hazard, and the one most tightly regulated under the Work at Height Regulations 2005).
Falling materials and objects. Tube, fittings, boards, brick guards and netting provisions.
Manual handling of tube, boards and fittings, particularly on longer carries or up ladders.
Ground conditions and buried services affecting base plates and sole boards.
Overhead hazards. Power lines, other trades' plant, cranes operating nearby.
Public and pedestrian safety where the scaffold oversails a footpath or highway, including licensing and hoarding.
Weather. Wind limits for erection/dismantle and sheeted scaffolds, and freezing conditions affecting grip and footing.
Interface with other trades. Scaffold being altered or used by others without authorisation.
COSHH. Any coatings, treated timber or contaminated surfaces encountered.
Lone working, particularly for single-operative inspection visits.

Instead of rewriting a RAMS from scratch for every job, build your quote in ScaffQuote first so the scope, dimensions and load class are locked down and ready to drop straight into the method statement.

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Linking the RAMS to the handover and inspections

A RAMS shouldn't sit in isolation from the rest of your paperwork. Three links worth making explicit:

Design basis, the RAMS should reference the same TG20:21 compliance sheet or bespoke design as the handover certificate, so there's no ambiguity about which structure the method statement describes.
Handover certificate, the RAMS covers the erection and dismantle process; the handover certificate is the record that the finished scaffold was checked and handed over safely for use. They're complementary, not duplicates.
7-day statutory inspections, the RAMS should state who's responsible for ongoing inspection during the hire period (see our handover and inspection records guide for what those records must contain), so it's clear from day one whether that duty sits with you or the client.

Template outline

A practical structure to build your own template around:

Cover sheet. Project, client, dates, version number and revision history.
Scope of works and scaffold description, referencing the TG20:21 compliance sheet or design.
Site-specific hazards and risk assessment table (hazard, who's at risk, controls, residual risk).
Sequence of work. Delivery, erection lift by lift, tying, boarding, inspection, handover, and separately, alteration and dismantle sequences.
Resources. Gang size, CISRS card levels required, plant and PPE list.
Emergency arrangements, including rescue from height plan.
Environmental and public protection. Hoarding, netting, exclusion zones, licensing.
Approval signatures. Author, approver, principal contractor acceptance.
Briefing record, every operative's signature and date.

Worked example of scale: a domestic re-roof RAMS might run to 4–6 pages; a commercial job with a loading bay, sheeting and a temporary roof easily runs to 12–15 pages once each element's specific hazards and sequence are properly covered, a generic 2-page template simply can't carry that detail.

Common questions

Is a RAMS a legal requirement?

There's no single regulation that names "a RAMS" by that title, but the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 require a suitable and sufficient risk assessment, and CDM 2015 requires contractors to plan, manage and monitor their work, a RAMS is the standard industry way of evidencing both.

Can I reuse the same RAMS for similar jobs?

You can reuse the structure and generic content, but the site-specific sections, access, ground conditions, adjacent hazards, scope, must be reviewed and updated for every job. A RAMS with last month's site address still in it is an immediate red flag to a principal contractor.

Does every operative really need to sign the briefing record?

Yes. Anyone working under the RAMS who hasn't been briefed and signed is working without the risk assessment having reached them, which undermines the whole document if there's ever an incident.

How often should a RAMS be reviewed during a long hire period?

Review it whenever the scope changes, an alteration, a loading bay added later, a change of trade on the platform, and as good practice revisit it at any significant milestone on longer contracts even if nothing obvious has changed.

Get the scope right before you write the RAMS

ScaffQuote locks down the scaffold type, dimensions and load class in the quote, so your method statement starts from an accurate scope, not a guess.

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This guide is general information, not legal advice. Always tailor your RAMS to the specific site and confirm current requirements against CDM 2015, the Work at Height Regulations 2005, and HSE guidance.