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Controlled breakout RAMS Builder
Controlled breakout risk assessment and method statement
Prepare RAMS for breaking out masonry or concrete with hand tools or a handheld breaker inside a set zone. Give the location, the support arrangement and the tools, adjust the suggested steps and review the PDF draft.
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Prepare the Controlled breakout 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 Controlled breakout RAMS covers
Breaking out a defined area with hand tools or a handheld breaker while the surrounding structure, people and finishes are protected.
- Hand tool removal
- Handheld breaker
Suggested steps and hazards for Controlled breakout
What it offers for handheld breaker before you have answered anything.
Set the exclusion and debris zone
- Mark where people may stand and where fragments may land before starting.
- Change the zone if the breakout boundary or tool changes.
Hazard
Fragments, dust or a partial collapse reaching people outside the workface
Who might be harmed and how
The breaker operator and everyone near the work
Controls in place
- Keep people outside the planned zone.
- Use screens or barriers where the surroundings need extra protection.
The zone keeps people outside the area reached by fragments, dust or collapse.
Check the support and sequence
- Read the agreed removal sequence and confirm the remaining work is safe before loosening it.
- Stop if the condition, support or boundary differs from the record.
Hazard
Collapse or movement of the remaining structure during breaking
Who might be harmed and how
The breaker team and people in the structure
Controls in place
- Use the recorded support arrangement and keep people outside the zone.
- Stop and get a competent decision when the condition changes.
The support and sequence control movement while the element is loosened.
Choose and check the breaker
- Use the specified breaker and chisel for the material and boundary.
- Check the tool, lead, hose, guards and connections before use.
Hazard
Loss of control, electric shock or increased vibration from unsuitable equipment
Who might be harmed and how
The breaker operator
Controls in place
- Use the lowest-vibration equipment that can do the work.
- Remove damaged tools from service and follow the maker's instructions.
A suitable, maintained breaker is easier to control and limits unnecessary vibration.
How employers can protect workers from hand-arm vibration
What the builder asks about Controlled breakout
Your answers decide which steps, hazards and controls it suggests.
The job
- What is behind or supporting the part you are opening?
- What support has been agreed before you break?
Where
- How will the broken material leave the area?
- 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, floor or element being broken out?
How it’s done
- What will you stand on to reach the work?
- How will you keep fragments and dust down?
- What will you use to control the breaker work?
- How will you control dust and fragments?
What your Controlled breakout 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.