Method statement and RAMS template

What is a method statement?

A method statement describes how one job will be done safely, in the order it is done: who does each step, with what equipment, and with which controls in place. It is written for one job on one site, and the people doing the work read it and sign to say they understand it before they start.

Principal contractors, commercial clients and accreditation schemes ask for one before you start, mostly for higher-risk work: height, excavation, hot works, confined spaces and live electrical work. It is also how you show you have planned the work, which is a duty under CDM 2015.

RAMS template: risk assessment and method statement together

A RAMS is the two documents together. The risk assessment says what could hurt someone on this job and how likely and how bad it would be. The method statement says how the job is done so that it does not. The hazards in one should appear as controls in the other: if the risk assessment lists falls from the roof edge, a step in the method should say where the edge protection goes and when.

The builder here links them: every step of the method picks its hazards from the risk assessment, and the exported RAMS shows them side by side. The RAMS download puts the risk assessment first; the method statement download puts the method first. The content is the same.

Is a method statement a legal requirement?

No, but a risk assessment is. Every employer and self-employed person must make a suitable and sufficient assessment of the risks their work creates, to their workers and to anyone else affected (Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999↗ (opens in a new tab), regulation 3).

HSE says: "If you employ 5 or more people, you must record your significant findings." With fewer than five you must still do the assessment, but you need not write it down. On a site, the principal contractor will want it in writing anyway (HSE↗ (opens in a new tab)).

HSE does not require a document called a method statement. CDM 2015 requires every contractor to "plan, manage and monitor all work carried out by themselves and their workers, taking into account the risks", and a written method statement is the usual way to show it (HSE: CDM 2015 contractors↗ (opens in a new tab)).

CDM 2015 also requires a construction phase plan for every project, domestic ones included. Where you are the only contractor, you must draw one up before setting up the site. This tool does not produce one; the free CITB CDM Wizard↗ (opens in a new tab) does.

How to write a method statement

1. The job: say what the work is, where, and the dates and hours. Use the trade that matches, so the right hazards load. 2. Company and site: your details, the site address, the client or principal contractor, and a site contact. 3. People: name everyone, their role and their cards (CSCS, ECS, Gas Safe, PASMA, IPAF, first aid), and the supervisor. 4. Plant, tools and substances: what you will bring and use, and a safety data sheet for each hazardous substance.

5. Risk assessment: each hazard, who it could harm, the controls, the risk before and after them, and who acts. 6. Method: the sequence of work, step by step, with the hazards and controls for each step. 7. Arrangements: first aid, fire, welfare, permits, PPE, waste, and who checks the work follows the method. 8. Sign-off: who prepared and approved it, and a briefing record every worker signs.

What to include in a method statement

• Document control: version, date, who prepared and approved it, and when it is reviewed. So everyone works to the same copy.
• Job and site details. A RAMS is for one site; the site address is what makes it site-specific.
• People and competence. CDM asks you to check skills, knowledge, training and experience.
• Plant, tools, materials and substances. So the controls match the equipment really used.
• The risk assessment, with the matrix key if you score. So the reader sees the risk and the reduction.
• The sequence of work. So the method matches how the job is really done.
• Emergency and welfare arrangements. So everyone knows what to do if it goes wrong.
• The briefing record. Proof the team read it.

The 5 by 5 risk matrix explained

Score likelihood from 1 (very unlikely) to 5 (very likely) and severity from 1 (minor injury, first aid) to 5 (death or permanent disability), then multiply. Low is 1 to 5, Medium 6 to 12, High 15 to 25. No two numbers from 1 to 5 multiply to 13 or 14, so there is nothing between 12 and 15.

A roofer on a pitched roof with no edge protection: falls from height are likely (4) and could kill (5), 4 x 5 = 20, High. With a scaffold and double guard rails the fall is unlikely (2) but would still be as serious (5): 2 x 5 = 10, Medium. Controls usually lower the likelihood, not the severity.

No law requires a scored matrix: HSE's own template does not score. Principal contractors usually expect one. The builder offers 5 by 5, 3 by 3, or no scores in HSE's style. When choosing controls, work down the order in the regulations: avoid the risk, reduce it at source, protect everyone with collective measures (scaffold, guarding, isolation), then procedures and training, and personal protective equipment last.

Method statement examples by trade

Roofing, re-roof a semi: falls from height, falling through fragile surfaces, falling materials and tools, among 15 hazards, and a 7-step method from scaffold handover to strike. Load the roofing example, or see websites for roofers.

Electrical, rewire a kitchen: falls from height, manual handling, disturbing asbestos, with safe isolation (isolate, lock off, prove dead) as its own step. Load the electrical example. Websites for electricians.

Plumbing and heating, replace a boiler: falls from height, manual handling, disturbing asbestos, gas isolation and tightness testing. Load the plumbing example. Websites for plumbers.

Building, build a garden wall: falls from height, falling through fragile surfaces, falling materials and tools, services checked before digging. Load the building example. Construction websites.

Landscaping, lay a patio: manual handling, weather: wind, rain, ice, heat and sun, residents and members of the public near the work, buried services and silica dust from cutting paving. Load the landscaping example. Websites for landscapers. Carpentry, fit a kitchen: falls from height, manual handling, disturbing asbestos. Load the carpentry example. Websites for carpenters.

Why the HSE method statement template does not exist

HSE publishes a risk assessment template↗ (opens in a new tab) in Word and OpenDocument formats, with worked examples for an office, a shop, food preparation, a vehicle repair shop, factory maintenance and a warehouse. It does not publish a method statement template, because the method statement is not an HSE requirement. Its template follows its five steps: identify the hazards, assess the risks, control the risks, record your findings, review the controls.

HSE is plain about examples: "Do not just copy an example and put your company name to it as that would not satisfy the law and would not protect your employees." The builder is built around that sentence. Every hazard it loads is marked as a preset until you change it or confirm it fits the site, and it will not export without a site address, dates and named people.

Briefing your team

A RAMS nobody has read protects nobody. Go through it with the people doing the work before they start, and have each sign the briefing record: "I have read and understood this RAMS". CDM 2015 requires a suitable, site-specific induction for workers, unless the principal contractor has already given one.

Keep a copy on site, brief anyone who joins later, and revisit it when the job changes. HSE's advice on assessments applies here too: "involve your employees as they will usually have good ideas". The signed briefing record also shows the job was run properly if a customer later questions the work to avoid paying (customer refusing to pay).

Common mistakes

• A generic document copied from the last job with the address changed.
• Residual scores that are the same as the initial scores, so the controls did nothing.
• No named supervisor, or no names at all.
• No dates, so nobody knows which job it was for.
• A method that does not match how the job is actually done.
• A RAMS written, filed and never briefed.