Groundworks RAMS example Worked examples for common jobs, written with our builder. Read, download, adapt.
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Electrical second fix and testing in a house refurbishment Lived-in 1970s house, accessories and consumer unit fitted, one circuit dead at a time, tested dead then live before handover. 7 pages, checked 2 November 2026 Hot works: cutting and welding in an occupied warehouse Steel brackets cut out and replaced on a live bay, with a permit for each shift and a separate fire watcher. 7 pages, checked 2 November 2026 Erecting an independent tied scaffold on a two-storey house Independent tube and fitting scaffold to a TG20 compliance sheet, family at home, rescue kit on the wagon. 6 pages, checked 2 November 2026 Stripping and re-tiling a pitched roof from a scaffold Lived-in house, tiles, battens and underlay off, one section made weathertight each day. 8 pages, checked 2 November 2026 Digging a 1.2 m trench for strip footings and a drain Beside a lived-in house, services located first, excavator then hand tools, trench sheets and props before anyone goes in. 7 pages, checked 2 November 2026 Repainting occupied offices Water-based paint from a podium, walls filled and sanded first, one bay screened off at a time while staff work on. 5 pages, checked 2 November 2026 Bathroom first and second fix in a lived-in house Only bathroom replaced, press-fit pipework under the floor and in a duct, tested before anyone closes it up, suite fitted after tiling. 8 pages, checked 2 November 2026 Tarmac resurfacing on a car park that stays partly open Old surface tested and planed off, private retail car park, laid bay block by bay block with shoppers around. 5 pages, checked 2 November 2026 Unloading a builders’ merchant delivery with a lorry loader Packs of blocks and plasterboard landed on a small building site, on a standing lift plan reviewed for this site. 6 pages, checked 2 November 2026 Cleaning the outside of a two-storey office with a water-fed pole All from the ground, in an open office set back behind its own car park, on cold November mornings. 4 pages, checked 2 November 2026 MIG welding a pump frame in a plant room MIG welding bare mild steel at floor level in a closed plant room, with on-torch extraction, while the retail park keeps trading. 5 pages, checked 2 November 2026 Stripping out a vacant single-storey workshop Office ceiling, partitions, carpet and benches out by hand, building empty, every service including the fire alarm disconnected on a certificate, lit by roof lights and a 110 V string. 7 pages, checked 2 November 2026 Skimming and patching walls in an occupied house Ground floor living room of a 2006 house, family at home, plaster mixed in the room with the door shut, from a hop-up. 5 pages, checked 2 November 2026 Building a garden wall in blockwork and facing brick A 5 m long, 1 m high wall, one brick thick, on a foundation already in, laid from the ground. 6 pages, checked 2 November 2026 Core drilling a flue hole through a cavity blockwork wall One 125 mm wet core, rig fixed to the inner leaf, through an external wall of a single-storey extension, with the core caught outside. 5 pages, checked 2 November 2026 Replacing damaged ceiling tiles and grid in an occupied office, out of hours Like-for-like tiles and tees on the existing hangers, from a podium, with the offices empty and the fire alarm left live. 4 pages, checked 2 November 2026 Clearing gutters on a bungalow from a ladder Eight ladder positions of under 15 minutes each, one hand on the ladder, with a stand-off keeping it clear of the gutter. 4 pages, checked 2 November 2026 Laying a block paved patio in a lived-in garden Dug out by hand to 250 mm, sub-base compacted, blocks laid on sand and cut wet, family at home. 6 pages, checked 2 November 2026 Hanging office doors in existing linings, out of hours in a working building Six heavy non-fire meeting room doors, trimmed and routed on trestles after the staff have gone. 4 pages, checked 2 November 2026 Groundworks RAMS example Digging a 1.2 m trench for strip footings and a drain
Beside a lived-in house, services located first, excavator then hand tools, trench sheets and props before anyone goes in.
What to change Company, people, site and dates Ground type and water Walls, boundaries and scaffolds near the trench How the sides are held Connection to a live sewer Test and building control notice Emergency arrangements Sources Checked 2 November 2026
ComplyOnSite complyonsite.com WORKED EXAMPLE: RISK ASSESSMENT AND METHOD STATEMENT Digging a 1.2 m trench for strip footings and a drain Hollins & Reed Groundworks Ltd · 12 to 16 October 2026 · In charge: Dan Hollins Worked example. Change it to fit your job before you use it. Job details Company Hollins & Reed Groundworks Ltd Site and work area 4 Bridge Road, M20 Planned dates 12 to 16 October 2026 Customer Mr and Mrs Lowe In charge on site Dan Hollins Team Three operatives: Dan Hollins leads and inspects the trench; Tom Ellis drives the excavator; Priya Shah is marshaller and holds the locator ticket. Work Digging a 1.2 m trench for strip footings and a drain Prepared by Dan Hollins Signature Date Work and boundaries Locate services, shallow excavate, backfill/compact. Areas: Side and rear of the house, trench 1.2 m deep and 14 m long Not our work: Pouring the footings and laying and testing the drain, which have their own method statements. Working arrangement Access: the floor or ground. Excavation support: Trench sheets and props to a design. Other people will be using the area. Worked example. Change it to fit your job before you use it. Page 1 of 7 Page 1 of 7
Example: Digging a 1.2 m trench for strip footings and a drain ComplyOnSite The family stays at home; the side path is closed. Services are on plans, scanned with a CAT and genny, and marked before digging; trial holes by hand near them. No depth is safe unsupported: trench sheets and props go in before anyone enters, and nobody enters to set them without protection. Spoil stays back from the edge. The trench is more than 3 m from next door’s foundations and too shallow to meet the 6 m rule, so no party wall notice is needed. A ladder tied 1 m above the top. No plant near the sides. Quick hitch pin checked before the bucket goes on, nobody within the slew. Emergency arrangements Trench collapse: stop plant. Nobody goes in to dig by hand. Priya Shah rings 999, says “trench collapse, 1.2 m deep”, gives 4 Bridge Road, M20, and meets the crew at the front; if she is the one hurt, Dan Hollins does it. Dan Hollins keeps everyone clear. Gas strike: everyone out, no ignition sources within 5 m, ring 0800 111 999. Cable hit: the driver stays in the cab, everyone clear, ring the network operator on the number on the site board. Trench flooding: everyone out. Sewer breach: wash, cover cuts, tell the householder. Excavator overturns: the driver stays in the cab, belted. First aider: Priya Shah, kit in the van. Planned method 1 Set up the work area Confirm the work area and scope before starting. Keep other people outside the active work area. Keep entrances and escape routes clear. 2 Keep people clear of the work Agree how people get past or around the work while it is going on. Put barriers or signs where a route crosses the work. Do not leave open work unattended. 3 Get the service information first Ask each owner for the current plan and status of services in the work area. Keep the plans and site records with the RAMS. 4 Give building control its notice Give notice 2 days before the work starts, and 1 day before footings or drains are covered. Call building control to see the ground before any concrete goes in. 5 Find and isolate hidden services Find buried cables and pipes before anyone digs: plans first, then a locator. Plans only show roughly where things are. Mark what you find. Not sure what is there? Do not dig. 6 Carry the trench sheets, props and tools safely Plan 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. 7 Keep spoil and plant off the edge Put spoil, materials and plant where their weight will not load the excavation edge. Keep the route beside the dig clear. Worked example. Change it to fit your job before you use it. Page 2 of 7 Page 2 of 7
Example: Digging a 1.2 m trench for strip footings and a drain ComplyOnSite 8 Separate people from the excavator Barrier the excavator’s working area and agree the pedestrian route. Use a trained operator and a marshaller where the method needs one. 9 Watch for asbestos in the ground Old fill and demolition ground can hold asbestos cement sheet, fragments and old pipes. Ask for the site ground report or asbestos survey before you break ground. If you turn up cement sheet, rope lagging or anything you do not recognise, stop and cover it over. 10 Control changes in the ground Deal with water, made ground, nearby structures and traffic in the temporary works plan. Stop if the ground moves, water rises or a nearby structure is affected. 11 Use a trained locator Use a locator only with the training and equipment instructions that apply to it. Check the signal generator and locator before the survey starts. 12 Survey and mark the whole area Sweep the whole work area and record the route of each indication. Mark the findings where the people who dig will see them. 13 Treat missing readings as unknown Do not call the ground clear because the locator found nothing. Flag plastic pipes and other services the equipment may not detect. 14 Hand over marks and records Show the dig team the marks, plans and places that were not scanned. Record any mismatch before the next team starts digging. 15 Set out the dig against service marks Check the excavation line against the plans and marks before breaking the surface. Stop if the service information and the ground do not agree. 16 Dig to the marks, by hand near services Dig trial holes by hand near services, with a safe digging method and the locator operator. Set spoil back from the edge and keep plant away from the sides. Nobody goes in until the sides are safe. 17 Barrier the open excavation Put a substantial barrier around edges where people could fall. Keep it in place when the team leaves the excavation. 18 Use the support named in this document Use the excavation support named in this document. Nobody goes in until it is in, or to set it without protection. Do not change the support arrangement because the ground looks firm. 19 Inspect the excavation before work Have a competent person inspect the excavation and support at the start of each shift. Inspect again after rain, frost or anything that could affect stability. Where supports or battering are used, write the report within 24 hours. Worked example. Change it to fit your job before you use it. Page 3 of 7 Page 3 of 7
Example: Digging a 1.2 m trench for strip footings and a drain ComplyOnSite 20 Provide safe access before anyone goes in Provide the access and escape arrangement set for this excavation before entry. Keep engines and spoil away from the people inside. 21 Get the excavation released Check the inspection, any building control visit and any record the work needs before anything goes back in. Stop if a defect or missing record remains. 22 Keep the plate off unprotected services Do not use a plate until the specified protective cover is in place. Use hand tools where the owner’s detail requires them. 23 Assess vibration from the plate compactor Note how long each person's hands are on each tool while it runs. Take the tool's vibration figure from the maker or HSE's table and check it fits how you use it. Points per hour times hours on the trigger, added up for the day, gives the exposure: 100 points is the action value, 400 is the limit. HSE's vibration calculator does the sum. Over 100, cut it with lower-vibration kit or less time, and never pass 400. Write the result down. Sharing the work does not replace this. 24 Keep dirty water and silt out of drains Keep spoil and wash water away from drains and watercourses. Use the site’s agreed controls for pumping, silt and contaminated water. 25 Bed and cover services by hand Use the owner’s bedding and cover detail around exposed pipes, ducts or cables. Keep hard or sharp fill away from the service, and put warning tape and tiles back above it. 26 Take the support out in the planned order Take out the props and sheets in the planned order as the fill comes up. Nobody goes back in where the support has come out. 27 Compact each specified layer Place the specified fill in the layers the job detail sets. Compact each layer to the required acceptance before adding the next. 28 Clear and hand back the area Remove 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. Risk assessment Hazard Who might be harmed and how Controls in place People entering the work area or tripping over materials Step 1 Workers, occupants and visitors Mark or barrier the active work area. Store tools and materials away from access routes. Worked example. Change it to fit your job before you use it. Page 4 of 7 Page 4 of 7
Example: Digging a 1.2 m trench for strip footings and a drain ComplyOnSite Hazard Who might be harmed and how Controls in place People using the building or passing by walking into the work or over what it leaves Step 2 Occupants, visitors, members of the public and workers Keep the barriers and signs up while the work is active. Give people a clear way round where their normal route is blocked. Striking an unrecorded cable, gas pipe or water main Step 3 The locating team and the people who dig next Contact the service owners before intrusive work. Treat missing records as an unresolved risk. Work is covered up before it has been seen and has to be opened again Step 4 The dig team and the client Record who was told and when. Hitting a buried cable or gas pipe causes shock, burns or a gas escape Step 5 The person doing the work and everyone nearby If a cable is struck, the driver stays in the cab. If gas is struck, get everyone away, put out ignition sources within 5 m and ring 0800 111 999. Back and shoulder injury from carrying heavy or long items Step 6 Everyone handling materials Use a trolley or sack truck on the flat where the load suits one. The excavation side collapsing under spoil, plant or vehicle loading Step 7 The dig team, drivers and people near the excavation Set a clear edge exclusion area. Do not park or tip close to the sides. A moving excavator striking or trapping a person Step 8 The operator, dig team and people passing Keep pedestrians out of the operating area. Stop the machine before anyone enters its working area. Breathing asbestos fibres from buried sheet, pipes or old fill Step 9 The dig team and anyone downwind Do not move or break suspect material; get it checked first. Licensed work is not for this method; hand it to a licensed contractor. Ground movement, flooding or a nearby structure being undermined Step 10 The dig team, nearby workers and the public Keep pumps, traffic and plant within the assessed arrangement. Recheck the excavation after a change in conditions. Worked example. Change it to fit your job before you use it. Page 5 of 7 Page 5 of 7
Example: Digging a 1.2 m trench for strip footings and a drain ComplyOnSite Hazard Who might be harmed and how Controls in place Relying on a reading the operator cannot interpret or the equipment cannot give Step 11 The locator operator and the dig team Use a competent, trained operator. Follow the equipment maker’s instructions and record limitations. A service route being missed, misread or not passed to the digging team Step 12 The locating team and anyone working near the marks Survey before the work is planned and set out. Record areas that could not be scanned. Digging into a non-metallic or poorly detected service Step 13 The locating team and the people who dig next Compare readings with plans and site records. Use hand exposure where the planned work is near an assumed service. A later worker digging to marks without knowing their limits or changes Step 14 The locating team and whoever digs afterwards Keep the survey record on site. Re-mark anything that has been lost or damaged. Striking a buried service while starting the excavation Step 15 The dig team and people nearby Use the service records and survey marks together. Keep the work stopped while an unexpected service is identified. Plant strikes a service, or the dig undermines a wall, scaffold or footing Step 16 The dig team and anyone nearby Check the quick hitch pin is in before the bucket moves. Check the dig against nearby walls and scaffold before it starts. A person falling into the open excavation Step 17 The dig team, other trades and people passing Check the barrier after work or weather changes. Do not leave an open excavation unprotected. The excavation sides collapsing and burying someone Step 18 Anyone working in or near the excavation Have the support arrangement managed by a competent person. Stop if the ground or excavation is not as assessed. Burial or injury in an excavation that has moved since the last check Step 19 Anyone working in or near the excavation Record the inspection and correct faults before work resumes. Keep people out while a defect remains. Worked example. Change it to fit your job before you use it. Page 6 of 7 Page 6 of 7
Example: Digging a 1.2 m trench for strip footings and a drain ComplyOnSite Hazard Who might be harmed and how Controls in place A person is trapped, struck or cannot escape from the excavation Step 20 Anyone entering the excavation Keep access clear at all times. Do not allow entry while support, inspection or access is incomplete. Burying faulty work or losing the evidence needed to repair it Step 21 The backfill team and the service owner Use this job's release arrangement. Keep the inspection record with the RAMS. Vibration or impact damaging a shallow gas pipe or other service Step 22 The compactor operator and the service owner Follow the service owner’s cover and compaction sequence. Stop if the required cover is not confirmed. Hand-arm vibration from the plate compactor Step 23 The compactor operator Keep the tools maintained and hands warm. Gloves do not stop vibration. Give health checks to anyone above the action value. Silt or contaminated water polluting a drain or watercourse Step 24 The backfill team, the public and the environment Stop pumping if the discharge route is not controlled. Report a spill or unexpected contamination at once. Crushing, pulling or damaging a service while fill is placed Step 25 The backfill team and the service owner Use the specified material and sequence. Stop and report damage before covering it. The sides collapse as the support is drawn, burying someone Step 26 Anyone working in or near the excavation Do not pull a sheet or prop ahead of the fill. Stop if the ground moves. Settlement, voids or later failure from poorly compacted fill Step 27 The backfill team and people using the finished ground Follow the actual fill specification. Record tests or acceptance as the job requires. Debris, tools or unfinished work left in the area Step 28 Workers, occupants and visitors Remove waste by the agreed route. Record and protect any unfinished work. Worked example. Change it to fit your job before you use it. Page 7 of 7 Page 7 of 7
Method statement and risk assessment, side by side Method statement The work in order, step by step.Example: Digging a 1.2 m trench for strip footings and a drain ComplyOnSite The family stays at home; the side path is closed. Services are on plans, scanned with a CAT and genny, and marked before digging; trial holes by hand near them. No depth is safe unsupported: trench sheets and props go in before anyone enters, and nobody enters to set them without protection. Spoil stays back from the edge. The trench is more than 3 m from next door’s foundations and too shallow to meet the 6 m rule, so no party wall notice is needed. A ladder tied 1 m above the top. No plant near the sides. Quick hitch pin checked before the bucket goes on, nobody within the slew. Emergency arrangements Trench collapse: stop plant. Nobody goes in to dig by hand. Priya Shah rings 999, says “trench collapse, 1.2 m deep”, gives 4 Bridge Road, M20, and meets the crew at the front; if she is the one hurt, Dan Hollins does it. Dan Hollins keeps everyone clear. Gas strike: everyone out, no ignition sources within 5 m, ring 0800 111 999. Cable hit: the driver stays in the cab, everyone clear, ring the network operator on the number on the site board. Trench flooding: everyone out. Sewer breach: wash, cover cuts, tell the householder. Excavator overturns: the driver stays in the cab, belted. First aider: Priya Shah, kit in the van. Planned method 1 Set up the work area Confirm the work area and scope before starting. Keep other people outside the active work area. Keep entrances and escape routes clear. 2 Keep people clear of the work Agree how people get past or around the work while it is going on. Put barriers or signs where a route crosses the work. Do not leave open work unattended. 3 Get the service information first Ask each owner for the current plan and status of services in the work area. Keep the plans and site records with the RAMS. 4 Give building control its notice Give notice 2 days before the work starts, and 1 day before footings or drains are covered. Call building control to see the ground before any concrete goes in. 5 Find and isolate hidden services Find buried cables and pipes before anyone digs: plans first, then a locator. Plans only show roughly where things are. Mark what you find. Not sure what is there? Do not dig. 6 Carry the trench sheets, props and tools safely Plan 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. 7 Keep spoil and plant off the edge Put spoil, materials and plant where their weight will not load the excavation edge. Keep the route beside the dig clear. Worked example. Change it to fit your job before you use it. Page 2 of 7 Risk assessment Each hazard, who could be harmed, the controls in place and any further action.Example: Digging a 1.2 m trench for strip footings and a drain ComplyOnSite 20 Provide safe access before anyone goes in Provide the access and escape arrangement set for this excavation before entry. Keep engines and spoil away from the people inside. 21 Get the excavation released Check the inspection, any building control visit and any record the work needs before anything goes back in. Stop if a defect or missing record remains. 22 Keep the plate off unprotected services Do not use a plate until the specified protective cover is in place. Use hand tools where the owner’s detail requires them. 23 Assess vibration from the plate compactor Note how long each person's hands are on each tool while it runs. Take the tool's vibration figure from the maker or HSE's table and check it fits how you use it. Points per hour times hours on the trigger, added up for the day, gives the exposure: 100 points is the action value, 400 is the limit. HSE's vibration calculator does the sum. Over 100, cut it with lower-vibration kit or less time, and never pass 400. Write the result down. Sharing the work does not replace this. 24 Keep dirty water and silt out of drains Keep spoil and wash water away from drains and watercourses. Use the site’s agreed controls for pumping, silt and contaminated water. 25 Bed and cover services by hand Use the owner’s bedding and cover detail around exposed pipes, ducts or cables. Keep hard or sharp fill away from the service, and put warning tape and tiles back above it. 26 Take the support out in the planned order Take out the props and sheets in the planned order as the fill comes up. Nobody goes back in where the support has come out. 27 Compact each specified layer Place the specified fill in the layers the job detail sets. Compact each layer to the required acceptance before adding the next. 28 Clear and hand back the area Remove 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. Risk assessment Hazard Who might be harmed and how Controls in place People entering the work area or tripping over materials Step 1 Workers, occupants and visitors Mark or barrier the active work area. Store tools and materials away from access routes. Worked example. Change it to fit your job before you use it. Page 4 of 7
RAMS example questions Are these real jobs? No. Every job, company, person and address here is made up. Each one is a worked example written with our builder, and every page says so.
Can I use one as it is? No. Your site, your people and your emergency arrangements will be different. Change it to fit your job before anyone works to it.
Why do they carry ComplyOnSite branding? They are made with our builder and printed in its standard design. A RAMS you build yourself carries your company name.
Word or PDF? Both. Word if you will change the wording yourself, PDF to read or print. Or press Use this and edit it in the builder , then download your own copy.
Where is the blank? On the RAMS template page. These examples are all filled in.
How were they checked? Each one is read against published guidance, mainly from HSE, for its facts, the order of the work and its emergency arrangements. The sources are listed beside it. If a document changes, it comes off this page until it has been checked again. The check covers the example, not your job.
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