Risk assessments and method statements, in the plural, is what a job actually carries: one RAMS per task, the demolition, the excavation, the roof, the lift, each with its own hazards, controls, steps and sign-on, and the set kept against the job. The plural is where a small contractor's paperwork breaks: the first RAMS is written well and the sixth is copied from it. The HSE's guidance, cited below, gives risk assessment as five steps: identify hazards, assess the risks, control the risks, record your findings, review the controls, and says that if you employ 5 or more people you must record your significant findings. The risk assessment and method statement tool on this site prints each one from its own figures, free, so the sixth is assessed like the first.
One per task
A task is a piece of work with its own hazards: the roof and the excavation share a site and nothing else. Each gets its own assessment and method, so the crew on the roof reads about the fall and the rescue plan and not about the trench. The tool on this site sizes each from its own hazard count.
The set against the job
Job, site, the list of tasks, and for each the RAMS in the version approved, the crew's sign-on, the review date and any incident that triggered a review. A principal contractor asks for the set under CDM, cited below, and an inspector asks for the one that applied on the day.
What the law requires of each
Regulation 3 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, cited below, requires every employer to make a suitable and sufficient assessment of the risks to the health and safety of their employees, and regulation 3(6) requires an employer with five or more employees to record the significant findings and any group of employees especially at risk. Each assessment in the set is that record for its task.
Keeping the set current
A task that changes gets a reviewed RAMS with a new version and a new sign-on; the old version stays in the file as what applied before. DailyLogDesk Pro keeps the set per job with the versions; the free tool prints each document. From the vendors' own pricing pages, cited below: SafetyCulture lists its Premium plan at $29 per seat per month billed monthly or $24 billed annually, with a free plan for small teams; Contractor Foreman lists its Basic plan at $49 per month for one user. DailyLogDesk Pro is $29 per month for the whole site team.
Questions people ask about risk assessments and method statements
How many RAMS does a typical job carry?
One per task with significant risk; a small build might carry five to ten over its life.
Can the crew sign one sheet for all of them?
They sign each RAMS they are briefed on; a single sheet for all is a briefing on none.
Is the tool free?
Yes, without an account.