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Scaffolding RAMS Builder
Scaffolding risk assessment and method statement
Prepare RAMS for erecting, altering and dismantling a scaffold to its design or the tie sheet. Add the site, scaffold type and gang details, edit the suggested steps and review the PDF draft.
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Prepare the Scaffolding 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 Scaffolding RAMS covers
Scaffolding work here is the scaffolder's own job: putting up a scaffold, changing it once it is in use, and taking it down in the right sequence.
- Erecting
- Altering
- Dismantling
Suggested steps and hazards for Scaffolding
What it offers for erecting before you have answered anything.
Check the weather before you start
- Do not lift or fix the scaffold, sheeting 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 the scaffold, sheeting 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 Stop things falling on people below
- Fence off the ground below the work so nobody walks under the tubes, boards, fittings and tools.
- Use toe boards, brick guards or netting on platforms and lanyard tools where you can.
Hazard
Tubes, boards, fittings 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 Check the sheet or design first
- Keep the TG20 sheet, maker instructions or design on site.
- Brief the gang on the build order and how they will stay protected.
Hazard
A scaffold built outside its design can collapse or expose the gang to falls
Who might be harmed and how
Scaffolders and people near the build
Controls in place
- Use a supervisor who knows the type and size of scaffold.
- Stop if the scaffold or site does not match the sheet or design.
The sheet or design sets the safe build order and limits.
HSE: Scaffolding
What the builder asks about Scaffolding
Your answers decide which steps, hazards and controls it suggests.
The job
- What sort of scaffold is it?
- What will you build it to?
- What are you changing?
- What condition is the scaffold in?
- Is the change covered by the current sheet or design?
Where
- Is the building older than the year 2000? Older buildings can have asbestos in them.
- What pipes or cables run the wall, roof or ground where ties, fixings and bases go?
How it’s done
- How will the gang stop falls while building?
- How will the gang stop falls while taking it down?
- How will the scaffold materials get to the work?
What you’ve been told
- Who can use it while you change it?
What your Scaffolding 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.