Risk assessment
Landscaping risk assessments for patios, fences, and planting
Garden work injures people with the ground, the weight of materials, and machines. A patio means excavation, cut stone, and silica dust from a cut-off saw. Fencing means post holes and overhead lines. Mowers and strimmers add contact with blades.
Underground services have to be located before digging. A cut-off saw used dry on paving throws silica dust, which is a COSHH issue, and vibration if the job is long. Overhead lines are an electricity hazard for fence posts and tipper deliveries, not for every planting task. Waste soil and broken slabs are a duty of care only where the hazard is the waste itself.
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.
What to decide before the job
- Service drawings and a scan before the first hole, then hand digging near a hit.
- How slabs, posts, and soil are moved. One person should not carry a full concrete slab.
- Water suppression and hearing protection where a saw or plate compactor runs.
- Overhead lines on the fence line, and a stop rule if a post hole finds a cable.
Every hazard below is from the RAMSPack library and is marked draft – awaiting competent review. Use it as a starting list, then change it for the site. It is not HSE approved.
Worked example: Patio laying
Excavate and lay a domestic patio on a prepared sub-base, including cutting slabs and pointing. It excludes work next to live overhead lines without a separate plan.
Order of work
- Check for buried services before digging. Use plans and a detector, then dig with care. A detector is not proof.
- Set exclusion so cuttings and the saw are away from other people.
- Excavate, lay and compact the sub-base, and lay slabs to falls that take water away from the building.
- Cut slabs wet wherever the tool allows. Change discs that are damaged. Do not exceed the saw's rated speed.
- Point or joint, clean cement off surfaces, and remove waste. Do not wash cement slurry into a drain.
Silica dust from cutting paving and blocks
Who might be harmed: Operatives and people nearby
Before controls: 16 High. After controls: 8 Medium. These scores are a prompt. Score the job yourself.
- Water suppression on the saw, or extraction. Stop if the water supply fails.
- Keep other people out of the dust. RPE is in addition to suppression, not a substitute for it.
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; Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998; Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992 (as amended 2022); Health and Safety (First-Aid) Regulations 1981.
Cut injuries and kickback from a disc cutter
Who might be harmed: Operatives
Before controls: 12 Medium. After controls: 4 Low. These scores are a prompt. Score the job yourself.
- Use the guard. Stand to the side of the line of cut. Do not force the disc.
- Inspect the disc for damage and use the right disc for stone. Isolate the saw before changing the disc.
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; Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998; Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992 (as amended 2022); Health and Safety (First-Aid) Regulations 1981.
Striking a buried electric cable or gas pipe
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.
- Obtain service plans where they exist, scan the area, and mark it.
- Use hand tools near known services. If you strike a service, stop, keep clear, and call the operator. Do not bury a damaged cable.
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); Health and Safety (First-Aid) Regulations 1981; Electricity at Work Regulations 1989.
Manual handling of slabs and vibration from the compactor
Who might be harmed: Operatives
Before controls: 12 Medium. After controls: 4 Low. These scores are a prompt. Score the job yourself.
- Use two people or a slab lifter. Do not carry a slab on your own if it is an awkward size.
- Limit time on the wacker plate and keep hands warm and gripping lightly as the assessment requires.
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; Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998; Control of Vibration at Work Regulations 2005; Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992 (as amended 2022); Health and Safety (First-Aid) Regulations 1981.
Other landscaper tasks in the library
Fence erection
Erect a timber or panel fence on private ground, including post holes. It excludes work under overhead lines without the network operator's controls.
- Contact with overhead lines while handling long rails or panels. Walk the line and look up before unloading.
- Manual handling of concrete posts and fence panels, made worse by wind. Use two people for panels and concrete posts. Stop if the wind takes the panel.
- Injury from a circular saw, auger, or breaker. Guards stay on. Both hands on the saw. Clear the line of cut.
- Striking a buried service in a post hole. Scan the post line. Hand-dig if a service is possible.
Lawn and planting
Prepare soil, lay turf or sow lawn seed, and plant shrubs on a domestic garden. It does not include tree felling or work from a chainsaw.
- Manual handling of soil, turf rolls, and compost bags. Break bags and turf into liftable loads. Use a barrow.
- Contact with a rotavator, turf cutter, or strimmer blade. Guards stay on. Do not defeat a dead-man's control.
- Infection from soil, standing water, or discarded needles. Wear gloves. Do not touch your face while working. Wash before eating.
- Slips on wet turf and uneven ground. Wear footwear with grip. Leave a level, obvious path.