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Welding risk assessment and method statement
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Welding RAMS template
A blank welding RAMS to fill in: job details, method statement, risk assessment and briefing record.
Risk assessment and method statement
Welding RAMS
- Company
- left blank to fill in
- Site and work area
- left blank to fill in
- Planned dates
- left blank to fill in
- In charge on site
- left blank to fill in
- Team
- left blank to fill in
Method statement
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
Risk assessment
| Hazard | Who might be harmed and how | Controls in place | Further action |
|---|---|---|---|
Welding RAMS example
The same RAMS, filled in for one job.
Risk assessment and method statement
Welding, Unit 3, Canal Side Business Park, Stockport: warehouse
Risk assessment
People entering the work area or tripping over materials
Workers, occupants and visitors
Mark or barrier the active work area. Store tools and materials away from access routes.
Electric shock, burns or a failed welding return circuit
The welder and nearby workers
Use equipment suitable for the task and in good condition. Report defects before the arc is struck.
Breathing asbestos fibres from old boards, sheets, sealants or insulation
The team and anyone in the building
Do not cut, drill or break any material until it is confirmed asbestos free. Licensed work is not for this method; hand it to a licensed contractor.
Hitting a live cable or gas pipe causes shock, fire or gas escape
The person doing the work and everyone nearby
Check again wherever the work moves. If you hit something, stop, keep clear and report it.
Tools, hot metal and slag falling onto people below
People below
Bring waste down by hand or in bags. Never throw it. Keep the exclusion zone up until the last item is down.
Falling from the access equipment; tools or materials falling from the platform
The person on the platform, if it is set up on an unsuitable surface and shifts under them. Anyone passing or working underneath.
Place access equipment on a firm, level surface. Keep tools and materials secure while working above ground.
Back and shoulder injury from carrying heavy or long items
Everyone handling materials
Use a trolley or sack truck on the flat where the load suits one. Where the work is up a level, hand items up or hoist them. Never carry them up a ladder.
Cutting into a live cable or conduit gives a shock, a flash burn or starts a fire
The person cutting and anyone nearby
Only the person who locked it off takes the lock off. Prove the tester on a known live source before and after.
Sparks, hot metal or slag starts a fire
Everyone in and near the work area
Sparks can travel a long way and start fires in other rooms: check the routes they can take. Put a cold method first if the job can be done without heat.
Stray welding current causes shock, burns or property damage
The welder and people touching nearby metal
Keep the return path short. Stop if the return cannot attach safely to the workpiece.
Arc-eye, burns and harmful light reaching people nearby
The welder, passers-by and nearby workers
Keep unprotected people outside the screened area. Use a suitable welding curtain or screen.
Breathing welding fume that can damage the lungs
The welder and people nearby
General ventilation alone does not control welding fume. Keep people out of lingering fume.
Hot work starts before the fire precautions are in place
Everyone in and near the work area
No permit, no hot work. A new shift or a new place needs a new permit.
A fire takes hold unseen during the work or a break
Everyone in and near the work area
The fire watcher raises the alarm first, and tackles a fire only if it is safe. Stop and get the permit changed if the job or the place changes.
A smouldering fire develops after the work stops
Everyone in and near the work area
Tell the site when the work and watch are finished. Keep to a longer watch if the site requires one.
Debris, tools or unfinished work left in the area
Workers, occupants and visitors
Remove waste by the agreed route. Record and protect any unfinished work.
Welding, Unit 3, Canal Side Business Park, Stockport: warehouse
- Company
- Hollins & Reed Fabrication Ltd
- Site and work area
- Unit 3, Canal Side Business Park, Stockport: warehouse
- Planned dates
- 12 to 14 October 2026
- In charge on site
- Dan Hollins
- Team
- Two operatives: Dan Hollins leads and checks the area each morning; Priya Shah works with him.
Method statement
- 1Set up the work areaConfirm the work area and scope before starting. Keep other people outside the active work area. Keep entrances and escape routes clear.
- 2Check the welding equipmentInspect the machine, leads, holder, torch and connectors before plugging in. Withdraw damaged equipment from use.
- 3Check for asbestos before you disturb anythingCheck the asbestos survey covers exactly what you will disturb, to the full depth. Register only, or nothing: get a refurbishment survey or a sample first. Read what it says about old lagging, boards and panels around the steel and pipework. No survey, or a material you do not recognise: stop and get it checked.
- 4Find and isolate hidden servicesFind cables and pipes before you disturb anything: drawings, then a detector. Mark what you find. Not sure what is there? Turn the supply off, or do not start. Have cables and gas isolated by the right person and prove them dead before you start.
- 5Stop things falling on people belowKeep people out of the area below the work so nobody walks under the tools, hot metal and slag. Keep toe boards and guards in place on any platform, and lanyard tools where you can.
- 6Set up access equipmentUse access equipment suited to the task and work area. Check the equipment before use. Keep the area below the work controlled.
- 7Carry the steel, tools and metal parts safelyPlan the route, clear it, and get help with anything long or heavy. Store materials close to the work so nobody carries further than they need to.
- 8Prove it dead before you cut into itMetalwork 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.
- 9Clear combustibles before hot workWalk the area with the site contact. Check around the work, below it and on the other side of any partition. Move combustible material away, or cover it with flame-resistant covers. Protect openings with non-combustible board. Agree which detector zone is isolated, who isolates it and who puts it back on. Place at least two suitable extinguishers at the work and post a fire watcher who is not doing the hot work.
- 10Clamp the return to clean work metalClamp the current return close to the weld on clean metal. Do not use a handrail, pipe or building frame unless it is the workpiece.
- 11Screen the arc from other peopleSet a welding screen around the work before striking the arc. Wear the correct welding filter and covering clothing.
- 12Capture welding fume at sourcePosition LEV at the arc and keep your head out of the plume. Where LEV cannot provide enough control, as is often the case outdoors, wear RPE with an APF of at least 20. Tight-fitting RPE needs a face fit test and a clean shave.
- 13Get the hot-work permit for this place and shiftGet a permit for this location and this shift, once the area is cleared and the fire cover is in place. It states the place, the times, the precautions, how to raise the alarm, who is in control and who authorised it. Keep a copy on display at the work.
- 14Work under the permitDo only the cutting, grinding, welding or heating the permit covers. Grinding sparks are hot work too. Keep the fire watcher on duty during the work and through every break. Stop hot work two hours before the end of the working day.
- 15Complete the fire watch before handbackKeep a continuous fire watch for at least an hour after hot work stops, then make at least one more check two hours after finishing. Inspect behind walls, below floors and in voids before closing the permit. Have the detector zone put back on as soon as the work stops, and sign off the permit.
- 16Clear and hand back the areaRemove tools, waste and unused materials. Check the area is clean and ready to use. Tell the customer or whoever runs the site when the work is complete.
What a welding RAMS covers
Arc welding identified, non-structural metal parts on site. Not covered: structural welding, and welding in a confined space.
Suggested steps and hazards for welding
Suggested for arc weld before any questions are answered.
Check the welding equipment
- Inspect the machine, leads, holder, torch and connectors before plugging in.
- Withdraw damaged equipment from use.
Hazard
Electric shock, burns or a failed welding return circuit
Who might be harmed and how
The welder and nearby workers
Controls in place
- Use equipment suitable for the task and in good condition.
- Report defects before the arc is struck.
A pre-use check finds electrical and return-circuit defects before welding starts.
HSE: Safety risks from welding 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 Clear combustibles before hot work
- Walk the area with the site contact. Check around the work, below it and on the other side of any partition.
- Move combustible material away, or cover it with flame-resistant covers. Protect openings with non-combustible board.
- Agree which detector zone is isolated, who isolates it and who puts it back on.
- Place at least two suitable extinguishers at the work and post a fire watcher who is not doing the hot work.
Hazard
Sparks, hot metal or slag starts a fire
Who might be harmed and how
Everyone in and near the work area
Controls in place
- Sparks can travel a long way and start fires in other rooms: check the routes they can take.
- Put a cold method first if the job can be done without heat.
Removing or protecting combustibles controls fire from sparks, hot metal and slag.
HSE: Safety risks from welding Clamp the return to clean work metal
- Clamp the current return close to the weld on clean metal.
- Do not use a handrail, pipe or building frame unless it is the workpiece.
Hazard
Stray welding current causes shock, burns or property damage
Who might be harmed and how
The welder and people touching nearby metal
Controls in place
- Keep the return path short.
- Stop if the return cannot attach safely to the workpiece.
A short return path on the workpiece keeps current out of nearby metal.
HSE: Safety risks from welding
What the builder asks about welding
Your answers decide which steps, hazards and controls it suggests.
The job
- Which welding process will you use?
- What is on the metal?
Where
- Is the welder or workpiece damp?
- 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?
- Is any of it inside a tank, pit, chamber or duct?
- How will the steel, tools and metal parts get to the work?
What your welding RAMS includes
Method statement
The work in order, step by step.
Risk assessment
Each hazard, who could be harmed, the controls in place and any further action.
The method statement and risk assessment in one A4 PDF. Your logo on Pro and Team.
What the law asks for
What a RAMS is
A risk assessment and method statement. The risk assessment records what could cause harm on the job, who could be harmed and how, and the controls that keep the risk down. The method statement sets out how the work will be done, step by step, in the order it happens.
A client or main contractor will usually ask for one before you start. RAMS is a site term, not a legal one: the law asks for the risk assessment and for the work to be planned, and a method statement is the usual way to show that plan for one job.
What the law asks for
- Employers, and self-employed people doing construction work, must make a suitable and sufficient assessment of the risks to their own people and to anyone else affected by the work (Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, regulation 3).
- An employer with five or more employees must record the significant findings and any group of employees it finds especially at risk. The assessment must be reviewed if there is reason to think it is no longer valid, or the work has changed significantly.
- Every contractor must plan, manage and monitor its work so that, so far as is reasonably practicable, it is done without risks to health and safety, and must give its workers the information and instructions they need, including the hazards the risk assessment found (Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015, regulation 15).
HSE guidance: the steps to manage risk and what contractors must do under CDM. This is the law in Great Britain; Northern Ireland has its own equivalent regulations.
What the builder does
You choose the work and answer questions about how the job will be done, such as what you will stand on and what else is going on nearby. Your answers decide which steps, hazards and controls it suggests.
Many suggestions link to the HSE guidance they draw on. Your work is kept in this browser and, signed in, on your account with its photos; the PDF is made on your device. A briefing you send to phones goes through your account.
Separate documents
A COSHH assessment, lifting plan, permit to work, asbestos survey and the principal contractor’s construction phase plan are separate from the RAMS.
Reviewing a RAMS before work starts
RAMS review reads a RAMS PDF, yours before you send it or one a subcontractor sends you, and lists the points to raise, each marked on the page it comes from. Quick reviews are free.