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Drainage risk assessment and method statement
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Drainage RAMS template
A blank drainage RAMS to fill in: job details, method statement, risk assessment and briefing record.
Risk assessment and method statement
Drainage RAMS
- Company
- left blank to fill in
- Site and work area
- left blank to fill in
- Planned dates
- left blank to fill in
- In charge on site
- left blank to fill in
- Team
- left blank to fill in
Method statement
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
Risk assessment
| Hazard | Who might be harmed and how | Controls in place | Further action |
|---|---|---|---|
Drainage RAMS example
The same RAMS, filled in for one job.
Risk assessment and method statement
Drainage, 27 Cherry Tree Road, Stockport: side and rear garden
Risk assessment
People entering the work area or tripping over materials
Workers, occupants and visitors
Mark or barrier the active work area. Store tools and materials away from access routes.
People using the building or passing by walking into the work or over what it leaves
Occupants, visitors, members of the public and workers
Keep the barriers and signs up while the work is active. Give people a clear way round where their normal route is blocked.
Striking a buried service or working to the wrong outfall
Drainage workers and people nearby
Use the service information during planning. Stop if the route or service information does not match the ground.
Hitting a live cable or gas pipe causes shock, fire or gas escape
The person doing the work and everyone nearby
Check again wherever the work moves. If you hit something, stop, keep clear and report it.
Wind catches the drain pipes, covers and loose materials and blows them onto people nearby
The team and people nearby
Check the forecast before you start and agree when the wind stops the work. Tie down or take in loose materials before you leave.
Back and shoulder injury from carrying heavy or long items
Everyone handling materials
Use a trolley or sack truck on the flat where the load suits one. Where the work is up a level, hand items up or hoist them. Never carry them up a ladder.
An excavator strikes a buried service or a person
The excavator operator and people near the excavation
Use a trained operator and a clear signal for the machine. Stop if the service position differs from the information.
Collapse or a fall into an unsafe excavation
Workers in or beside the excavation
Keep people out until the excavation is safe. Stop if water, ground movement or a service changes the plan.
Pipe settlement, damage or trapped hands while preparing the bed
Drainage workers
Use this job's bedding detail. Keep hands clear while material is placed and levelled.
A joint leaks, separates or traps fingers while the pipe is being assembled
Drainage workers and the drain owner later
Use only the fittings and lubricant named for that pipe system. Stop if the joint detail or parts on site do not match.
Pinched fingers or a ring-seal joint that leaks after burial
Drainage workers and the drain owner later
Use compatible parts and the specified lubricant. Do not borrow insertion allowances from another system.
A defective drain is buried and needs excavation to correct
Drainage workers and the drain owner
Use the agreed acceptance criteria. Hold backfill when the result is missing or fails.
The pipe is covered before the required check or witness is complete
Drainage workers and the drain owner
Do not backfill on an assumption that the check will be accepted later. Stop and get the missing requirement agreed if nobody can state it.
Debris, tools or unfinished work left in the area
Workers, occupants and visitors
Remove waste by the agreed route. Record and protect any unfinished work.
Drainage, 27 Cherry Tree Road, Stockport: side and rear garden
- Company
- Hollins & Reed Groundworks Ltd
- Site and work area
- 27 Cherry Tree Road, Stockport: side and rear garden
- Planned dates
- 12 to 14 October 2026
- In charge on site
- Dan Hollins
- Team
- Two operatives: Dan Hollins drives the 3 tonne mini excavator; Priya Shah lays the pipe and directs him.
Method statement
- 1Set up the work areaConfirm the work area and scope before starting. Keep other people outside the active work area. Keep entrances and escape routes clear.
- 2Keep people clear of the workAgree how people get past or around the work while it is going on. Put barriers or signs where a route crosses the work. Do not leave open work unattended.
- 3Confirm the route and servicesGet the route, outfall and service information before breaking ground. Mark the work area and keep the agreed access clear.
- 4Find and isolate hidden servicesFind cables and pipes before you disturb anything: drawings, then a detector. Mark what you find. Not sure what is there? Turn the supply off, or do not start. Have cables and gas isolated by the right person and prove them dead before you start.
- 5Check the weather before you startStop handling drain pipes, covers and loose materials when the wind is strong enough to catch them. Stop in heavy rain, ice or lightning.
- 6Carry the drain pipes, covers and bedding safelyPlan the route, clear it, and get help with anything long or heavy. Store materials close to the work so nobody carries further than they need to.
- 7Dig around services with careUse the marked service information and keep people out of the excavator swing. Expose services by hand where the service information says the bucket must stop.
- 8Check the excavation before you enterProvide the support, battered sides, edge protection and access needed for this ground. Have the excavation checked before anyone enters or lowers pipe into it.
- 9Prepare the pipe bedTrim the trench bottom and check the specified bed supports the pipe continuously. Use the specified granular material when the as-dug ground is unsuitable.
- 10Join the pipes to the specified systemCheck the pipe ends, seals and fittings are clean, compatible and undamaged. Assemble each joint to the supplier's instructions and keep the line straight.
- 11Make the ring-seal jointSeat the ring and keep the spigot and socket clean, dry and free from grit. Align the parts and assemble them to the pipe maker's instructions.
- 12Inspect before coveringCheck the line, level, joints and connection while they are visible. Record the agreed check before the pipe is covered.
- 13Keep the pipe open for the agreed checkArrange this job's test or witness before backfill starts. Keep the pipe, joints and connection visible until the result is recorded.
- 14Clear and hand back the areaRemove tools, waste and unused materials. Check the area is clean and ready to use. Tell the customer or whoever runs the site when the work is complete.
What a drainage RAMS covers
Laying and repairing below-ground drains outside a building, CCTV and water testing, and rodding or jetting from a manhole or gully. Not covered: entering a manhole or chamber.
- Lay/repair external drain
- Surface survey/test
- Clear from outside
Suggested steps and hazards for drainage
Suggested for lay/repair external drain before any questions are answered.
Confirm the route and services
- Get the route, outfall and service information before breaking ground.
- Mark the work area and keep the agreed access clear.
Hazard
Striking a buried service or working to the wrong outfall
Who might be harmed and how
Drainage workers and people nearby
Controls in place
- Use the service information during planning.
- Stop if the route or service information does not match the ground.
The route and buried services must be checked before excavation starts.
HSE HSG47: Avoiding danger from underground services Prepare the pipe bed
- Trim the trench bottom and check the specified bed supports the pipe continuously.
- Use the specified granular material when the as-dug ground is unsuitable.
Hazard
Pipe settlement, damage or trapped hands while preparing the bed
Who might be harmed and how
Drainage workers
Controls in place
- Use this job's bedding detail.
- Keep hands clear while material is placed and levelled.
A continuous specified bed supports the pipe and prevents settlement or damage.
Wavin OsmaDrain Join the pipes to the specified system
- Check the pipe ends, seals and fittings are clean, compatible and undamaged.
- Assemble each joint to the supplier's instructions and keep the line straight.
Hazard
A joint leaks, separates or traps fingers while the pipe is being assembled
Who might be harmed and how
Drainage workers and the drain owner later
Controls in place
- Use only the fittings and lubricant named for that pipe system.
- Stop if the joint detail or parts on site do not match.
A buried joint must match its pipe system or it can leak or pull apart later.
Wavin OsmaDrain
What the builder asks about drainage
Your answers decide which steps, hazards and controls it suggests.
Where
- What pipes or cables run under or beside the drain excavation?
How it’s done
- What will you stand on to reach the work?
- How will you reach the drain?
- What are you checking?
- How will you clear it?
- How will you join the pipes?
- What part of the drain can you reach?
- What do you know about the blockage?
- How will the drain pipes, covers and bedding get to the work?
- Will you cut anything on site, and with what?
What you’ve been told
- What check is agreed before you cover the pipe?
- How will you check and hand back the result?
What your drainage RAMS includes
Method statement
The work in order, step by step.
Risk assessment
Each hazard, who could be harmed, the controls in place and any further action.
The method statement and risk assessment in one A4 PDF. Your logo on Pro and Team.
What the law asks for
What a RAMS is
A risk assessment and method statement. The risk assessment records what could cause harm on the job, who could be harmed and how, and the controls that keep the risk down. The method statement sets out how the work will be done, step by step, in the order it happens.
A client or main contractor will usually ask for one before you start. RAMS is a site term, not a legal one: the law asks for the risk assessment and for the work to be planned, and a method statement is the usual way to show that plan for one job.
What the law asks for
- Employers, and self-employed people doing construction work, must make a suitable and sufficient assessment of the risks to their own people and to anyone else affected by the work (Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, regulation 3).
- An employer with five or more employees must record the significant findings and any group of employees it finds especially at risk. The assessment must be reviewed if there is reason to think it is no longer valid, or the work has changed significantly.
- Every contractor must plan, manage and monitor its work so that, so far as is reasonably practicable, it is done without risks to health and safety, and must give its workers the information and instructions they need, including the hazards the risk assessment found (Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015, regulation 15).
HSE guidance: the steps to manage risk and what contractors must do under CDM. This is the law in Great Britain; Northern Ireland has its own equivalent regulations.
What the builder does
You choose the work and answer questions about how the job will be done, such as what you will stand on and what else is going on nearby. Your answers decide which steps, hazards and controls it suggests.
Many suggestions link to the HSE guidance they draw on. Your work is kept in this browser and, signed in, on your account with its photos; the PDF is made on your device. A briefing you send to phones goes through your account.
Separate documents
A COSHH assessment, lifting plan, permit to work, asbestos survey and the principal contractor’s construction phase plan are separate from the RAMS.
Reviewing a RAMS before work starts
RAMS review reads a RAMS PDF, yours before you send it or one a subcontractor sends you, and lists the points to raise, each marked on the page it comes from. Quick reviews are free.