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Grinding RAMS Builder
Grinding risk assessment and method statement
Prepare RAMS for grinding and disc cutting metal on site. Describe the parts, the tool and the work area, edit the suggested steps and review the PDF draft.
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Prepare the Grinding RAMS
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What will you cut or grind with?
More details
The tool changes the wheel, guard and spark controls. Choose the tool you will use.
What a Grinding RAMS covers
Dressing, cutting and finishing metal parts with an angle grinder, cut-off disc or saw.
Suggested steps and hazards for Grinding
What it offers for grind/cold cut before you have answered anything.
No torch work in a tank, pit or duct
- Hot work inside a tank, pit, chamber or duct is not covered by this method.
- Get the space tested for gas, agree how you get out, and have someone on the outside who can pull you out.
Hazard
Fumes, gas or lost oxygen knock you out inside a space you cannot get out of
Who might be harmed and how
The person inside and anyone who goes in after them
Controls in place
- Stop and get the confined space plan before anyone goes in.
- Never go in to pull a mate out without the rescue kit.
Torch and welding fume fills a closed space fast and most deaths are the second person going in.
HSE: Confined spaces Prove it dead before you cut into it
- Metalwork often carries cables, conduit or trunking. Get the circuit switched off, locked off and proved dead first.
- Do not cut, grind or weld on anything still live.
Hazard
Cutting into a live cable or conduit gives a shock, a flash burn or starts a fire
Who might be harmed and how
The person cutting and anyone nearby
Controls in place
- Only the person who locked it off takes the lock off.
- Prove the tester on a known live source before and after.
A lock-off and a proved dead test is the only way you know the circuit is off.
HSE: Electricity, systems in buildings Stop things falling on people below
- Fence off the ground below the work so nobody walks under the tools, hot metal and slag.
- Use toe boards, brick guards or netting on platforms and lanyard tools where you can.
Hazard
Tools, hot metal and slag 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 Set up the cut safely
- Clamp the piece so it cannot twist or close on the blade.
- Support the offcut before the final part of the cut.
Hazard
Kickback, trapped fingers or an offcut dropping as it comes free
Who might be harmed and how
The operator and anyone below or nearby
Controls in place
- Keep both hands on the tool where its design allows.
- Stop if the part is loaded or the support is not clear.
The work and offcut must stay stable while the cut is made.
HSE: PUWER overview
What the builder asks about Grinding
Your answers decide which steps, hazards and controls it suggests.
The job
- What will you cut or grind with?
- What is on the metal?
Where
- Is the building older than the year 2000? Older buildings can have asbestos in them.
- What pipes or cables run in, behind or through the metalwork you are cutting?
How it’s done
- What will you stand on to reach the work?
- What is the piece doing when you cut it?
- How will the steel, tools and metal parts get to the work?
What your Grinding 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.