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Demolition RAMS Builder

Demolition risk assessment and method statement

Prepare RAMS for soft strip, hand demolition and machine demolition. Enter the site, the structure and the sequence, edit the suggested steps and review the PDF draft.

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Prepare the Demolition RAMS

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Demolition RAMS

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 Demolition RAMS covers

Taking down all or part of a building to a written demolition plan, from stripping fittings and finishes through to bringing the structure down by hand or with plant.

  • Soft strip
  • Hand demolition
  • Machine demolition

Suggested steps and hazards for Demolition

What it offers for hand demolition before you have answered anything.

  1. Check the weather before you start

    • Do not lift or fix sheets and loose material 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 sheets and loose material 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
  2. Stop things falling on people below

    • Fence off the ground below the work so nobody walks under the materials.
    • Use toe boards, brick guards or netting on platforms and lanyard tools where you can.

    Hazard

    Materials 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
  3. Get the demolition plan before anything moves

    • A competent person must write the demolition method down before work starts, for this structure and this site.
    • Read the take-down order in it: what comes out first, what holds the rest up, and where it changes.
    • Building control must have been given notice at least 6 weeks before demolition starts.

    Hazard

    Work starts without a written method, so nobody knows what is holding the structure up

    Who might be harmed and how

    The whole gang and anyone near the site

    Controls in place

    • Work to the written order; if the building is not what the plan says, stop and get it looked at again.
    • Keep the plan on site where the gang can read it.

    Unplanned collapse is what kills demolition workers, and the written order is the thing that prevents it.

    HSE: Structural stability during alteration, demolition and dismantling

What the builder asks about Demolition

Your answers decide which steps, hazards and controls it suggests.

The job

  • What have you been given for this job?
  • What are you taking down?
  • What is coming out in the strip?

Where

  • What does it touch or lean on?
  • What pipes or cables run in, under or into the part coming down?

How it’s done

  • What will you stand on to reach the work?
  • What machine is doing the demolition?
  • Will you cut anything on site, and with what?

What your Demolition 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.