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Suspended ceiling RAMS Builder

Suspended ceiling risk assessment and method statement

Set out RAMS for hanging a suspended grid, replacing lay-in tiles and forming MF boarded ceilings. Give the site details, edit the suggestions that apply and review the PDF draft.

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Prepare the Suspended ceiling RAMS

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Suspended ceiling 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 Suspended ceiling RAMS covers

Ceilings hung from the soffit: setting hangers, squaring the grid, dropping in lay-in tiles, and boarding MF ceilings on a metal frame.

  • Ceiling tile/grid
  • MF boarded ceiling

Suggested steps and hazards for Suspended ceiling

What it offers for ceiling tile/grid before you have answered anything.

  1. Stop things falling on people below

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

    Hazard

    Boards, tiles, cores 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
  2. Inspect the void before disturbing the grid

    • Check the grid, hangers and void before removing a tile or changing the grid.
    • Stop if the survey or site information does not cover the void.

    Hazard

    Contact with hidden services or asbestos-containing material in a crowded ceiling void

    Who might be harmed and how

    Ceiling installers and people below

    Controls in place

    • Use the available survey and service information before opening the void.
    • Stop and refer anything unknown before disturbing it.

    The void must be understood before a tile or grid is disturbed.

    Asbestos: The survey guide HSG264
  3. Hang and square the grid

    • Hang the main beams and cross tees in the system’s order.
    • Check the grid is square before final levelling.

    Hazard

    Grid movement or falling tiles caused by loose or out-of-square connections

    Who might be harmed and how

    Ceiling installers and people below

    Controls in place

    • Use the specified hangers and connections.
    • Keep the area below clear while the grid is assembled.

    A square, connected grid supports compatible tiles without avoidable movement.

    Installation Instructions - Drop Ceilings (15/16" and 9/16")

What the builder asks about Suspended ceiling

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

The job

  • What is in the ceiling void?
  • What will hold the ceiling?
  • What will the grid carry?
  • What are the existing tiles like?
  • Does this ceiling have a rating?

Where

  • Is the building older than the year 2000? Older buildings can have asbestos in them.
  • What pipes or cables run behind or through the wall, floor or ceiling?

How it’s done

  • What will you stand on to reach the work?
  • What will go in the cavity?
  • Will you cut anything on site, and with what?
  • How will the boards and drilling equipment get to the work?

What your Suspended ceiling 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.