Formwork RAMS Builder
Formwork risk assessment and method statement
Checking this browser for your work…
RAMS review
Check a RAMS
Formwork RAMS template
A blank formwork RAMS to fill in: job details, method statement, risk assessment and briefing record.
Risk assessment and method statement
Formwork 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
Formwork RAMS example
The same RAMS, filled in for one job.
Risk assessment and method statement
Formwork, Rear of Unit 2, Brinnington Road, Stockport: retaining wall
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.
A shutter system or sequence cannot withstand the concrete load
The formwork and concrete gangs
Use the current pour detail and the supplier instructions. Stop if the system or support detail is missing.
Formwork panels falling onto people below
People below
Bring waste down by hand or in bags. Never throw it. Keep the exclusion zone up until the last item is down.
Falling from the tower platform; the tower overturning; tools or materials dropped from the platform
The person on the platform, where a guardrail or toe board is missing or was never fitted. Anyone on or beside the tower, if it is moved with people or materials on it, or built without its stabilisers. Anyone passing or working underneath.
Fit the required guardrails, braces and stabilisers. Move the tower only with nobody and nothing on it. Keep the area around the tower controlled.
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.
Formwork collapses or a shutter falls during erection or loading
The formwork gang and people nearby
Check supports are tied, footed, braced and supported before loading. Keep people out from under or beside unstable shutters.
Silica and board dust from power cutting damage the lungs
The person cutting and anyone downwind
Use the kit that fits the tool. Cut in one place, away from other trades. Collect any slurry while it is wet. Clear any dry dust with an H or M Class vacuum, not a brush.
Silica dust if the water stops, and slipping on slurry
The person cutting and anyone nearby
Stop cutting if the water stops.
Hearing damage and hand-arm vibration from power tools
The person cutting
Use sharp blades and discs, which cut faster with less vibration. Warn people nearby before you start cutting.
A leaking, moving or overloaded form during the pour
The formwork and concrete gangs
Use the agreed inspection point before loading. Do not adjust or add props while concrete is being poured.
Falling shutters or concrete and loss of support during striking
The formwork gang and people nearby
Follow the planned dismantling order. Do not remove props or braces early.
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.
Formwork, Rear of Unit 2, Brinnington Road, Stockport: retaining wall
- Company
- Hollins & Reed Concrete Ltd
- Site and work area
- Rear of Unit 2, Brinnington Road, Stockport: retaining wall
- Planned dates
- 12 to 14 October 2026
- In charge on site
- Dan Hollins
- Team
- Three carpenters: Dan Hollins leads and signs the shutter check before each pour; Priya Shah and Sam Okafor build and strike.
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.
- 2Check the shutter detailRead the pour drawing and method before bringing shutters to the workface. Confirm the shutter type, pour sequence, supports and safe access are clear.
- 3Stop things falling on people belowKeep people out of the area below the work so nobody walks under the formwork panels. Keep toe boards and guards in place on any platform, and lanyard tools where you can.
- 4Use the mobile towerFollow the supplier instructions for any build or change. Check the tower before first use and after it is moved. Lock the wheels before using the platform. Climb using the internal access provided. Keep the toe boards on and tools and materials inside the guardrails.
- 5Carry the shutters and box-outs 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.
- 6Set and brace the shuttersSet the shutters on the planned footing and fit every specified tie, prop and brace. Check the whole assembly before concrete or other loads are put against it.
- 7Control the dust when cuttingNever cut dry in the open. Wear an APF 20 mask (FFP3 or P3) when you cut: fit tested and clean-shaven. Keep other people out of the dust.
- 8Wet cuttingThis job is wet cutting: keep water on and collect the slurry.
- 9Limit noise and vibrationWear ear defenders when cutting. Note how long each person's hands are on each tool while it runs. Take the tool's vibration figure from the maker or HSE's table and check it fits how you use it. Points per hour times hours on the trigger, added up for the day, gives the exposure: 100 points is the action value, 400 is the limit. HSE's vibration calculator does the sum. Over 100, cut it with lower-vibration kit or less time, and never pass 400. Write the result down. Sharing the work does not replace this. Keep the tools maintained.
- 10Check before the pourCheck line, level, ties, props, braces, joints and access before concrete arrives. Have the responsible person record that the form is ready; stop if anything has moved.
- 11Take down the shutters safelyWait until the planned check says the concrete and support are ready, then remove shutters in order. Keep people clear of falling material and protect the new work.
- 12Clear 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 formwork RAMS covers
Wall and column shutters, slab edge boards, and boxing out holes and openings. Not covered: falsework and propping that carries a slab or beam during the pour.
- Vertical shutters
- Slab edges and box-outs
Suggested steps and hazards for formwork
Suggested for vertical shutters before any questions are answered.
Check the shutter detail
- Read the pour drawing and method before bringing shutters to the workface.
- Confirm the shutter type, pour sequence, supports and safe access are clear.
Hazard
A shutter system or sequence cannot withstand the concrete load
Who might be harmed and how
The formwork and concrete gangs
Controls in place
- Use the current pour detail and the supplier instructions.
- Stop if the system or support detail is missing.
The shutter type and pour sequence set how the form is supported.
Health and safety in construction HSG150 Set and brace the shutters
- Set the shutters on the planned footing and fit every specified tie, prop and brace.
- Check the whole assembly before concrete or other loads are put against it.
Hazard
Formwork collapses or a shutter falls during erection or loading
Who might be harmed and how
The formwork gang and people nearby
Controls in place
- Check supports are tied, footed, braced and supported before loading.
- Keep people out from under or beside unstable shutters.
Checking the footing, ties and braces before loading controls collapse and falling shutters.
Health and safety in construction HSG150 Check before the pour
- Check line, level, ties, props, braces, joints and access before concrete arrives.
- Have the responsible person record that the form is ready; stop if anything has moved.
Hazard
A leaking, moving or overloaded form during the pour
Who might be harmed and how
The formwork and concrete gangs
Controls in place
- Use the agreed inspection point before loading.
- Do not adjust or add props while concrete is being poured.
The check catches movement and defects before the concrete loads the form.
Health and safety in construction HSG150
What the builder asks about formwork
Your answers decide which steps, hazards and controls it suggests.
How it’s done
- What will you stand on to reach the work?
- What kind of shutters are you using?
- What protects the open edge or box-out?
- How will the shutters stay upright?
- What holds the edge form or box-out?
- Who checks the shutters before pouring and striking?
- When can the form be loaded or taken out?
- How will the shutters and box-outs get to the work?
- Will you cut anything on site, and with what?
What your formwork 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.