Scaffolding RAMS
Site-specific risk assessment and method statements for scaffolding erection, alteration, inspection and dismantle.
Most RAMS get a quick scan. Scaffolding ones don't. The principal contractor reads it. The building owner reads it. On housing or public-sector jobs, the client reads it too. There's a reason for that. Get scaffolding wrong and someone falls, or something falls on someone. A weak document comes back the same day. So this is what yours has to cover, from erection through dismantle, to pass first time. Briefkit writes a site-specific scaffolding RAMS for your actual job, not a downloaded template.
Why a scaffolding RAMS gets read more carefully than most
Scaffolders work at height for a living. What they put up is what every other trade on site then works from. If the platform is wrong, everyone on it for the rest of the job is in danger too. The PC knows that, so the document gets proper scrutiny. A generic write-up that talks about "working at height" in the abstract, without naming this ground, this height, this loading and these ties, won't get past anyone who reads it.
Erection
Putting it up. Where most of the falls and most of the strikes happen. The work breaks down like this:
- Survey and design: Checking the ground, the building, proximity to traffic and the public, and the loading the scaffold takes. TG20:24 covers most jobs. Complex ones need a bespoke design.
- Soleplates and base lifts: Getting the foundation right. Standards bedded, baseplates square, sole boards where the ground demands them.
- Working up the lifts: Standards, ledgers, transoms, bracing and ties going in in sequence. SG4 method of working safely at height as the scaffold itself rises.
- Decks, guardrails and toeboards: Boarding out. Double guardrails and toeboards at every working lift. Brick guards or mesh where loading demands them.
- Ladders, stairs and access: Internal ladders or stair towers tied off and positioned so people don't have to climb past obstructions.
- Handover: Scaffold inspected and tagged before anyone else uses it. Scafftag or equivalent, with the inspection record kept.
Use, inspection and alteration
The scaffold has to stay safe for everyone using it after handover. So the RAMS covers what happens once it's up.
- Weekly statutory inspections: Every seven days. After high winds. After adverse weather. After any alteration. Recorded against the tag.
- Adaptations: Any changes done by a CISRS-carded scaffolder only. Nothing taken down by another trade, even temporarily.
- Loading control: Working loads stated and enforced. Materials, brick guards, the lift it's stacked on. Other trades stopped from overloading what they're standing on.
- Tie checks: Ties are what hold the scaffold to the building. They get checked. The RAMS says how often, and who does it.
Dismantle
Coming down is often more dangerous than going up. Guardrails come off in sequence, ties come out, and there's always the temptation to bomb fittings to the ground. So the RAMS covers:
- Reverse sequence: Dismantle mirrors erection, lift by lift. SG4 safe zone maintained the whole way.
- Material handling: No throwing fittings, tubes or boards. Hand them down, gin wheel them, or hoist.
- Exclusion below: Ground zone barriered and signed. Nobody underneath while material is coming off.
- Final inspection: Check nothing's been left on the building. Anchors, ties, brackets. Area clear before the team leaves.
The risks that run through all scaffolding work
- Falls from height: The scaffolder's own work at the leading edge. SG4 safe zones, harness and lanyards, or the safe systems of work in TG20:24.
- Falling objects: Fittings, tubes, boards or materials dropped onto people, vehicles or the public below. Toeboards, brick guards, exclusion zones, debris netting.
- Manual handling: Tubes, fittings, boards and beams. Heavy and awkward. Proper lifting, share the load, mechanical aid where the lift allows it.
- HAVS: Impact wrenches and breakers used to fit and remove fittings. Exposure managed against the EAV and ELV.
- Wind and weather: TG20:24 sets wind-speed thresholds for work at height. The RAMS says clearly when work stops, and who calls it.
- Ground conditions: Soft, sloping or made-up ground. Sole boards, additional baseplates, scaffold founded on a stable, level base.
- Live services and structures: Overhead power lines. Fragile rooflights or asbestos cement sheets near the scaffold. Services in the wall being tied to.
- Public protection: Where the scaffold borders a footway, road or public space. Hoardings, fans, debris netting, signage, lighting at night.
What a scaffolding RAMS that passes scrutiny looks like
- Treats the scaffold as a design problem first. TG20:24 compliant or bespoke-designed, with the calculation referenced.
- Specific to the site. The ground, the building, the loadings, the public, the ties. Not a generic scaffolding document.
- Works through the job in sequence. Erection, use and inspection, alteration, dismantle. The hazards of each phase.
- Names the CISRS competencies for everyone on the team, and the inspector.
- Sets out the wind speed and weather conditions that stop work, and who calls it.
- Public protection, falling-objects controls and exclusion zones spelt out explicitly.
- PPE specified. Helmet with chinstrap, harness and lanyards where appropriate, gloves rated for the work. Emergency arrangements including rescue from height.
- Reviewed by a competent person and briefed to everyone on the team.
"Specific to the site" is the whole point. A generic scaffolding RAMS doesn't know your ground, your ties, your loads, or who's walking past at the bottom.
Get a site-specific scaffolding RAMS for your job
Briefkit writes the whole document. Site-specific, not from a template. The design basis, the erection-to-dismantle sequence, ties and loading, wind and weather thresholds, public protection, CISRS competencies. Ready to review and sign off, in minutes. £30. One job, one fee.