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Lifting RAMS Builder

Lifting risk assessment and method statement

Prepare RAMS for forklift and telehandler lifts, temporary hoist use and lifting by hand. Give the loads, the trucks and the ground conditions, edit the suggested steps and review the PDF draft.

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Prepare the Lifting RAMS

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Lifting 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 Lifting RAMS covers

Raising and moving loads with a forklift or telehandler, running a temporary hoist, and lifting by hand where no aid is available.

  • Forklift use
  • Telehandler interface
  • Temporary hoist use
  • Manual handling

Suggested steps and hazards for Lifting

What it offers for forklift use before you have answered anything.

  1. Use the trained truck operator

    • Use an operator trained for this type of truck, its job and the site.
    • Give familiarisation and close supervision when the operator is new to the task.

    Hazard

    The truck is operated without the skills needed for its controls or site risks

    Who might be harmed and how

    The operator and everyone near the truck

    Controls in place

    • Check training and authorisation before allocating the work.
    • Do not treat experience on another truck as enough for this one.

    Truck-specific training and familiarisation give the operator the skills for this work.

    HSE: Lift-truck training
  2. Check the truck before you drive it

    • Do the daily checks on the truck: brakes, steering, tyres, forks, mast and horn.
    • Check the truck has a current thorough examination certificate. A service is not the same thing.

    Hazard

    A brake, tyre, steering or lifting defect causes a collision or dropped load

    Who might be harmed and how

    The operator and people near the truck

    Controls in place

    • Anything wrong with the brakes, steering or lifting: park it up and report it.
    • Do not use a truck whose examination has run out.

    A fault you find in the yard is a lot cheaper than one you find with a load in the air.

    HSE: Thorough examination of industrial lift trucks
  3. Match the load to the truck

    • Check the load, forks, capacity information, load centre and receiving support before lifting.
    • Do not lift an unstable, damaged or over-capacity load.

    Hazard

    The truck overturns or the goods fall because the load exceeds the arrangement

    Who might be harmed and how

    The operator, receiver and people nearby

    Controls in place

    • Use only stable fork-supported goods under this method.
    • Get a separate method for suspended loads, attachments or person lifting.

    Matching the stable load to the truck capacity prevents overturning and dropped goods.

    HSE: Safe lifting by machine

What the builder asks about Lifting

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

The job

  • How heavy and how big is it?
  • What will the telehandler do?
  • Which forklift and load arrangement will you use?
  • What makes the load difficult?

Where

  • Where will it land?
  • What is the carrying route like?

How it’s done

  • What will you stand on to reach the work?
  • Can you avoid carrying the load?
  • What will unload or lift it?
  • Which machine, forks and load chart will you use?
  • How will the landings and load be controlled?
  • Can people and vehicles be kept clear?
  • How will people be kept away from the truck?
  • How often will you repeat the handling?

What your Lifting 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.