How to write a method statement
- Sections in the RAMS pack
- 9
- Person-days on the task
- 20
- Person-hours on the task
- 160
Every figure on this page is computed from the inputs you enter, by the method stated below it. The only constants DailyLogDesk supplies are the published reporting clocks and assessment steps, each cited where it is used. The defaults are a worked example to replace with your own.
How to write a method statement, for the contractor who has the risk assessment and now needs the document that says how the work is done: the job and the site in the header, the people and their competence, the plant and the materials, then the sequence of work from arrival to leaving site with the control from the assessment written into the step where it applies, the permits, the emergency arrangements and the sign-on sheet. The risk assessment and method statement tool on this site builds it from the assessment's own inputs, free and without an account; Pro keeps it against the project.
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Start from the assessment, not from the last job's method
The method applies the controls the assessment decided, so the assessment is written first and the method reads from it. Copying last month's method for a different site produces steps that name equipment the site does not have and skip the hazard it does. The tool on this site builds the method from the same inputs as the assessment so the two cannot disagree.
The sequence, step by step, with the control at the step
Arrival and sign-in, the site set-up, the isolation, the exclusion zone, the work itself in the order it is done, the checks, the clean-up and the handover. At each step, the control from the assessment: the edge protection before the first course, the proving dead before the first termination, the fire watch after the last weld. A control listed at the end is a control the crew will not have in front of them.
The people, the plant, the permits and the emergency block
Who is on the task and with what training, the plant and its inspection, the permits the work needs and who issues them, the first aider, the hospital, the rescue where the task needs one, the person to call when something changes. Each is its own block in the template so the pack is complete when it is printed.
Brief it, sign it, revise it when the site changes
The method is briefed before the task starts and the crew sign the sheet. When the site, the sequence or the people change, the method is revised and the revision is briefed again. Pro keeps every revision and every sign-on sheet against the project and exports the pack for the principal contractor.
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How to write a method statement: common questions
Is the method statement tool free?
Yes. The risk assessment and method statement tool on this site builds the pack with no account and no card. Pro keeps it against the project and raises the review.
How long should a method statement be?
As long as the sequence of the work. A short task is a page; a strip-out and rebuild is several. Length is not the measure; whether the control is at the step is.
Who signs the method statement?
The person who wrote it, the person who approved it, and every member of the crew on the sign-on sheet after the briefing.