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Cladding RAMS Builder
Cladding risk assessment and method statement
Prepare RAMS for fixing external cladding panels to a wall and for taking existing panels off. Describe the building, the panels and the access, edit the suggested steps and check the PDF draft.
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Prepare the Cladding RAMS
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What will you be doing?
More details
Pick everything this RAMS covers. The questions that follow are chosen from what you tick here.
What a Cladding RAMS covers
Setting out, lifting and fixing external panels to a wall that has been checked to hold them, and unfixing and lowering panels that are coming off.
- Fit external panels
- Remove external panels
Suggested steps and hazards for Cladding
What it offers for fit external panels before you have answered anything.
Check the weather before you start
- Do not lift or fix panels in strong wind; a large sheet is a sail.
- Stop in heavy rain, ice or lightning, and rest in the shade in hot weather.
Hazard
Wind catches the panels or blows someone off balance at height
Who might be harmed and how
The team and people below
Controls in place
- Agree a wind limit for panels and platforms and check the forecast each morning.
- Tie down or take in loose materials before you leave.
Wind is the main weather cause of falls and dropped loads in outside work at height.
HSE: Work at height Stop things falling on people below
- Fence off the ground below the work so nobody walks under the panels.
- Use toe boards, brick guards or netting on platforms and lanyard tools where you can.
Hazard
Panels falling onto people below
Who might be harmed and how
People below, including the public
Controls in place
- Lower waste in bags or a chute, never throw it.
- Keep the exclusion zone up until the last item is down.
Falling objects are a leading cause of harm to the public near construction.
HSE: Protecting the public Check the wall before fixing
- Look at the wall or frame where the support goes: it must be sound, dry and able to hold the fixings.
- Mark the fixing lines and check them against the drawing.
Hazard
A panel or its support pulls off because the wall cannot hold it
Who might be harmed and how
The team and people below later
Controls in place
- Pull-test a fixing on doubtful walls.
- Stop and get the support design if the wall is not what the drawing says.
Cladding failures start at the fixing into the wall, not at the panel.
HSE: Work at height
What the builder asks about Cladding
Your answers decide which steps, hazards and controls it suggests.
The job
- What are the panels?
- Is this a fire-rated or high-rise facade?
Where
- What is the wall or frame behind the panels like?
- Is the building older than the year 2000? Older buildings can have asbestos in them.
- What pipes or cables run behind or through the wall where the panels go?
How it’s done
- What will you stand on to reach the work?
- What happens to the panels you take off?
- How will the panels get to the work?
- Will you cut anything on site, and with what?
What your Cladding RAMS includes
Method statement
The sequence of the work, step by step. The suggestions are a starting point; you write the method for the job as it will be done.
Risk assessment
Each hazard, who could be harmed, the controls in place and any further action. There is no risk score: you judge each row against the real site, and adding a hazard does not put its controls in place.
PDF draft for review
The document as you left it, for someone competent to check. A download is not approval and not permission to start work.