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Drainage RAMS Builder
Drainage risk assessment and method statement
Prepare RAMS for laying or repairing an external drain, surveying and testing it from the surface, and clearing a blockage from outside the pipe. Add the run, the services and the plant, edit the suggested steps and review the PDF draft.
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Prepare the Drainage 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 Drainage RAMS covers
Drainage here means below-ground pipework outside a building: bedding and laying new drain, repairing a run, CCTV or water testing from the surface, and rodding or jetting from a manhole or gully at ground level.
- Lay/repair external drain
- Surface survey/test
- Clear from outside
Suggested steps and hazards for Drainage
What it offers for lay/repair external drain before you have answered anything.
Check the weather before you start
- Do not lift or fix drain pipes, covers and loose materials 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 drain pipes, covers and loose materials 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 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 the named 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
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 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.