Guide
A RAMS generator that will not invent the job
This RAMS generator writes from the library entries you keep and the details you enter. It is a risk assessment generator in the same step: the hazards, the scores, and the method are one pack.
What you still have to do
Choose the trade and the task, then the site. Untick hazards that do not apply and add ones that do. Open the method, PPE, plant, COSHH, emergency, and training sections. Export stays off until you have. The wording can be edited. Nothing in the generator is a claim that the PDF will be accepted.
A worked example: hanging wallpaper
Hanging lining paper or wallpaper is a poor fit for a copied electrical RAMS. The room, a coating that might be asbestos, and the platform you reach the ceiling from are the job. The generator starts from those library lines. You still have to say which room, whether anyone has checked the coating, and what you are standing on.
No law requires a document called a RAMS. The duty is to assess risk under the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, regulation 3, and to plan the work safely.
Every hazard below is from the RAMSPack library and is marked draft – awaiting competent review. Change it for the site. It is not HSE approved.
Worked example: Wallpaper hanging
Strip existing paper where it is not an asbestos coating, prepare the wall, and hang lining or decorative paper.
Order of work
- Test a small area. If the finish might be asbestos textured coating, stop. Steaming or scraping it is not this task.
- Protect floors and isolate or cover sockets so water cannot enter them.
- Strip paper, ventilate if a chemical stripper is used, and bag the waste.
- Make good and size the wall as the paper system requires.
- Hang and trim the paper from a stable platform. Leave the room clean and the electrics dry.
Steaming or scraping an asbestos textured coating
Library status: draft – awaiting competent review
From the painter and decorator library, task: Wallpaper hanging. Who might be harmed: Operatives, other workers, occupiers and the public
Before controls: 15 High. After controls: 5 Low. These scores are a prompt. Score the job yourself.
- Do not steam, scrape, or power-sand a textured coating on this task.
- Check the asbestos survey or register before work starts.
- If asbestos is suspected, stop. Do not disturb it and do not take a sample.
- Tell the duty holder or the principal contractor.
- Where a licensed contractor is required under the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012, leave that work to them.
Regulations that fit this hazard: Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974; Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999; Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015; Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002; Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992 (as amended 2022); Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012.
Electric shock from a steam stripper or wet sockets
Library status: draft – awaiting competent review
From the painter and decorator library, task: Wallpaper hanging. Who might be harmed: Operatives
Before controls: 15 High. After controls: 5 Low. These scores are a prompt. Score the job yourself.
- Use a stripper and lead that are in good condition. Do not use a damaged plug.
- Keep water off sockets and switches. Isolate a wet circuit and have it checked.
Regulations that fit this hazard: Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974; Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999; Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015; Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992 (as amended 2022); Electricity at Work Regulations 1989.
Fall while reaching to the ceiling line
Library status: draft – awaiting competent review
From the painter and decorator library, task: Wallpaper hanging. Who might be harmed: Operatives
Before controls: 9 Medium. After controls: 3 Low. These scores are a prompt. Score the job yourself.
- Use steps that are fully open, or a podium in a stairwell. Do not stand on the pasting table.
Regulations that fit this hazard: Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974; Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999; Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015; Work at Height Regulations 2005; Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992 (as amended 2022).
Handling heavy pasted lengths and repeated reaching
Library status: draft – awaiting competent review
From the painter and decorator library, task: Wallpaper hanging. Who might be harmed: Operatives
Before controls: 6 Low. After controls: 4 Low. These scores are a prompt. Score the job yourself.
- Paste shorter lengths where the drop is manageable. Take breaks from overhead reaching.
- Get help with rolls and the pasting table on stairs.
Regulations that fit this hazard: Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974; Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999; Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015; Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992; Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992 (as amended 2022).
Generate a wallpaper-hanging RAMS