Risk assessment
Painting and decorating risk assessments
Decorating looks light until the room has no ventilation, the paint is lead, or the outside is reached from a ladder leaned along a whole elevation. Interior work is mostly COSHH and access. Exterior work is falls and fragile surfaces.
Solvent and isocyanate products are COSHH. Lead paint in older buildings is the Control of Lead at Work Regulations 2002, not a general dust note. Textured coatings can be asbestos. Exterior decoration should be planned from a scaffold or podium where the elevation cannot be reached safely from the ground.
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
- The product data sheet, ventilation, and who is in the room besides the decorator.
- Age of the building for lead paint and asbestos coatings before sanding or steaming.
- How high work is reached. A ladder is for short access, not for painting a whole wall.
- Hot work is not part of ordinary painting. If heat is used to strip, treat it as a fire hazard.
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: Interior decoration
Prepare and paint internal walls, ceilings, and woodwork in an occupied or empty property, including minor filling. It does not include removal of asbestos coatings.
Order of work
- Protect floors and fittings. Agree ventilation with the occupier.
- Check the surfaces. If a coating may contain asbestos or lead, stop and reassess. Do not sand it.
- Prepare surfaces by washing, filling, and light sanding with dust control.
- Apply paint as specified, keeping the room ventilated. Store tins closed.
- Remove waste, including liquid waste, under the duty of care. Do not pour paint into a drain.
Fall from steps while painting ceilings and stairwells
Who might be harmed: Operatives
Before controls: 12 Medium. After controls: 4 Low. These scores are a prompt. Score the job yourself.
- Use a podium for stairwells and sustained ceiling work. Do not stand on chairs, baths, or radiators.
- A stepladder is for short, light work only, fully open, on a level floor.
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; Work at Height Regulations 2005; 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.
Exposure to paint, filler dust, and solvent from any oil-based product brought to site
Who might be harmed: Operatives and occupiers
Before controls: 9 Medium. After controls: 4 Low. These scores are a prompt. Score the job yourself.
- Prefer water-based products where the specification allows.
- Ventilate. Keep children and pets out of freshly painted rooms.
- If a solvent paint is specified, keep ignition sources away and follow the safety data sheet.
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); Health and Safety (First-Aid) Regulations 1981; Dangerous Substances and Explosive Atmospheres Regulations 2002.
Disturbing asbestos textured coating or asbestos board while preparing
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 scrape or sand a textured coating unless it has been shown not to contain asbestos.
- Stop if insulation board is behind a finish. That is not minor decoration.
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); Health and Safety (First-Aid) Regulations 1981; Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012.
Slips on dust sheets and spills
Who might be harmed: Operatives and occupiers
Before controls: 6 Low. After controls: 4 Low. These scores are a prompt. Score the job yourself.
- Lay sheets flat, tape edges where they lift, and clear spills.
- Keep a clear walking route, especially 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; Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002; Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992 (as amended 2022); Health and Safety (First-Aid) Regulations 1981.
Start this interior decoration RAMS
Other painter and decorator tasks in the library
Exterior painting
Prepare and paint external woodwork, render, or metal on a low-rise building from a safe platform.
- Fall from a ladder used to paint a whole elevation. Paint elevations from a scaffold or podium, not from a ladder leaned along the wall.
- Lead in old paint on pre-1970s joinery. Assume lead is possible on older paint until a test or other evidence says otherwise.
- Paint, scrapings, and tools falling onto the public. Exclude or shepherd the area below. Fit sheeting where the scaffold allows.
- Skin and eye contact with washes and paints. Read the safety data sheet before opening the container.
Wallpaper hanging
Strip existing paper where it is not an asbestos coating, prepare the wall, and hang lining or decorative paper.
- Steaming or scraping an asbestos textured coating. Do not steam, scrape, or power-sand textured coatings unless they have been assessed under the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012.
- Electric shock from a steam stripper or wet sockets. Use a stripper and lead that are in good condition. Do not use a damaged plug.
- Fall while reaching to the ceiling line. Use steps that are fully open, or a podium in a stairwell. Do not stand on the pasting table.
- Handling heavy pasted lengths and repeated reaching. Paste shorter lengths where the drop is manageable. Take breaks from overhead reaching.