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Lintels RAMS Builder

Lintel installation risk assessment and method statement

Prepare RAMS for fitting a new lintel or replacing a failed one over an existing opening. Give the opening, the bearing details and the access, edit what the tool suggests and check the PDF draft.

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Prepare the Lintels RAMS

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Lintels 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 Lintels RAMS covers

Setting a lintel into a new opening, and taking out a failed lintel and bedding its replacement, with the bearing and the temporary support checked first.

  • Fit a lintel
  • Replace a lintel

Suggested steps and hazards for Lintels

What it offers for fit a lintel before you have answered anything.

  1. Check the weather before you start

    • Do not lift or fix lintels 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 lintels 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
  2. Stop things falling on people below

    • Fence off the ground below the work so nobody walks under the lintels, masonry and tools.
    • Use toe boards, brick guards or netting on platforms and lanyard tools where you can.

    Hazard

    Lintels, masonry and tools 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
  3. Check the lintel and opening

    • Confirm the lintel matches the manufacturer schedule and the opening before moving it.
    • Check the bearing details before bringing it to the opening.

    Hazard

    Wrong lintel failing or being forced into position

    Who might be harmed and how

    Installers and people below

    Controls in place

    • Stop if the schedule, opening or bearing details do not match.

    The schedule and opening check confirms that the specified lintel can be installed as planned.

    Lintel installation guidance

What the builder asks about Lintels

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

The job

  • What information do you have for the lintel and opening?
  • How much of the old lintel can you see?

Where

  • Is the temporary support in place and checked?
  • Is the building older than the year 2000? Older buildings can have asbestos in them.
  • What pipes or cables run around or above the opening?

How it’s done

  • What will you stand on to reach the work?
  • What will be built on the lintel later?
  • How will the lintels get to the work?

What your Lintels 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.