Commercial clients — schools, councils, facilities managers — won't let you on site without RAMS. More importantly, a RAMS that's actually read is the difference between a paper exercise and a crew that knows the site's dangers. Here's what to include and how to run them without the ring binder.
Risk assessment vs method statement
They travel together but do different jobs. The risk assessment lists what could cause harm on this site and this task, who's at risk, and what you're doing about it. The method statement is the step-by-step of how the work will actually be done safely. Clients ask for "RAMS" as one document; write it as two halves.
Section-by-section structure
1. Cover details — company, site address, client, date, review date, author, version number. Version matters: a client audit will ask when it was last reviewed.
2. Scope of works — exactly what's covered: "fortnightly grounds maintenance: mowing, strimming, hedge cutting, leaf clearance." Work outside the scope needs its own RAMS (tree work at height being the classic).
3. Hazard identification — the honest list for grounds work: thrown objects from mowers and strimmers, noise, hand-arm vibration (HAVS), manual handling, slopes and wet grass, buried/overhead services, lone working, members of the public (schools especially), fuel handling, dust and pollen, needles/sharps in urban sites, weather extremes.
4. Who's at risk — operators, other crew, site staff, pupils/public, visitors.
5. Control measures per hazard — PPE (eye/ear protection, gloves, boots), exclusion distances for the public, pre-start walk-over for debris, two-person policy or lone-worker alarm where needed, service drawings requested before any digging, HAVS trigger-time limits, refuelling rules.
6. Method statement — sequence of the visit: arrival and parking, site walk-over, cordon/signage where needed, task order, waste handling, sign-out. Include site-specific rules (school: work outside break times; sports club: pitch access days).
7. COSHH cross-reference — any chemicals used point to their own assessments and your spray records.
8. Emergency arrangements — nearest A&E, first aiders, what3words/grid reference for rural sites, who to call.
9. Sign-off sheet — every operative signs that they've read and understood it, dated.
The part everyone fails: proof of reading
The classic failure isn't writing the RAMS — it's proving the crew read it. A binder in the office signed once in 2024 convinces nobody. The modern pattern is digital: the RAMS lives against the site, and each crew member signs it on their phone before they can clock in — new version uploaded means everyone re-signs. That's how SwardOps enforces it: unsigned RAMS literally blocks clock-in on that site, and the audit trail builds itself.
Keep it site-specific
Generic RAMS get rejected by good clients and ignored by crews. Start from a template, but the hazards section must reflect this site: the steep bank behind the pavilion, the public footpath through the works area, the school's break-time rules. Ten minutes of site-specific editing is what makes the document real.