Trades / Groundworks
Risk assessment and method statement for groundworks and excavation
Excavation RAMS are the ones with the highest stakes per page. A trench that collapses or a service that is struck is not a lost-time injury, and the document has to be written as if the reader will have to act on it.
£29 per document. Written for your job in two to three minutes, as an editable Word file and a PDF. Free preview first.
What a groundworks RAMS has to cover
Not every job needs all of these, and the document only carries what your job actually involves. These are the ones that come up for groundworkers.
- Collapse of unsupported sides, and the battering, benching or trench box that prevents it
- Buried services: drawings, CAT and genny scanning, trial holes and the permit to dig
- Plant and people in the same space, and the segregation and banksman that keep them apart
- Falls into the excavation by operatives, other trades and the public
- Water ingress, weather and ground that changes after rain
- Confined space conditions in a deep or enclosed excavation
- Traffic management where the dig crosses an access road or a highway
Jobs you can pick
Ten common groundworks and excavation jobs, or describe your own in a sentence or two. Either way the document is written around what you describe, including the site, who else is about and how long it takes.
- Dig foundations for an extension
- Lay a driveway (block paving or tarmac)
- Lay or repair drains
- Dropped kerb
- Patio and paving
- Fit a soakaway
- Dig a trench for water, gas or cable ducts
- Build a retaining wall
- Site clearance and levelling
- Concrete slab or base
- Something else — describe it yourself
The legislation cited for groundworks and excavation
This is the complete list your document may cite — 15 entries, kept by hand for groundworkers. The system cannot cite anything outside it, and a document that tries is rejected and written again. Each one only appears in your RAMS if it applies to the job you describe.
- Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974
- General duties on employers and the self-employed to protect workers and anyone else affected by the work (ss.2–3), and on workers to take reasonable care (s.7).
- Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999
- Requires a suitable and sufficient risk assessment before work starts (reg 3) and operatives given adequate information and training — this RAMS records the significant findings.
- Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992
- PPE must be suitable for the risk, correctly fitted, maintained and provided free of charge (including to limb (b) workers since the 2022 amendment), and used as the last line of defence.
- Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013
- Deaths, specified injuries, over-seven-day injuries, occupational diseases and dangerous occurrences arising from the work must be reported to HSE.
- Health and Safety (First-Aid) Regulations 1981
- Adequate first-aid equipment and a trained first-aider or appointed person must be available for the duration of the work.
- Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015
- Excavations must be supported or battered against collapse, edges protected and inspected at the start of each shift (reg 22), and underground services located before digging (reg 25).
- Work at Height Regulations 2005
- Covers falls into excavations, trenches and manholes: barriers or covers at edges, and safe access and egress.
- Confined Spaces Regulations 1997
- Manholes, chambers and deep or poorly ventilated excavations can be confined spaces: avoid entry, or use a safe system of work with gas monitoring and rescue arrangements.
- Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998
- Excavators, dumpers, rollers and cut-off saws must be suitable, maintained and inspected, with trained operators, rollover protection fitted and seat belts worn.
- Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998
- Excavators lifting pipes, chambers or kerbs are lifting equipment: they must be rated and configured for lifting, thoroughly examined, and the lifts planned.
- Control of Noise at Work Regulations 2005
- Breakers, compactors, cut-off saws and plant typically exceed the 85 dB(A) upper exposure action value: hearing protection zones and reduced exposure.
- Control of Vibration at Work Regulations 2005
- Hand-arm vibration from breakers, plate compactors and cut-off saws must be assessed against the 2.5 m/s² A(8) action value and kept below the 5 m/s² A(8) limit.
- Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002
- Cutting kerbs, slabs and blocks releases silica dust; wet concrete and cement cause burns and dermatitis; contaminated ground may hold hazardous substances.
- Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992
- Kerbs, flags, blocks and pipes are heavy: use kerb lifters, vacuum lifters or plant, with team lifts only where unavoidable.
- New Roads and Street Works Act 1991
- Applies to excavation in a public highway: signing, lighting and guarding must follow the Safety at Street Works and Road Works Code of Practice.
Why a fixed list instead of asking the model
Ask a language model which regulations apply to groundworks and excavation and you get a confident list, some of it right and some of it regulations that were replaced, renumbered, or never existed. On a document that reaches a principal contractor, a wrong citation is worse than no citation — it is the first thing a competent reviewer spots.
So the list above is given to the system as the only thing it may cite, and every document is checked against it afterwards.
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Your groundworks and excavation RAMS
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