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Scaffolding · United Kingdom

Method statement for scaffold inspection

By Safety PaperworkBuilt from HSE guidance and CDM 2015 · How we write and check theseUpdated

You must assess the risks of scaffold inspection and record the significant findings if you employ 5 or more people. On CDM sites the principal contractor will ask for RAMS before you start.

RAMS cover the hazards, who could be harmed and how, the controls and the safe sequence of work, and the crew is briefed and signs. The main hazards are falling from height, scaffold collapse or fall from scaffold, strong wind and storms and falling tools and materials.

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RAMS example: scaffold inspection

This is a complete RAMS for scaffold inspection, with 4 job steps. Open it in the builder to add your site, crew and signatures, change anything, and download a PDF. Or download the free Word template below and fill it in by hand.

Risk Assessment and Method Statement (RAMS)
Scaffold inspection and handover · Scaffolding · Example
Document RAMS-001 · Rev 1

Risk assessment

#ActivityHazardsWho might be harmedRisk beforeControlsRisk after
1Inspect after erection, weekly, and after storms or changes
  • Scaffold collapse or fall from scaffold
  • Strong wind and storms
Workers, Public, People belowVery high (15)
  • Scaffold is built, altered and taken down only by CISRS-carded scaffolders, to TG20 or a specific design. Control (engineering)
  • Fit guardrails, mid rails and toe boards on every working platform. Control (engineering)
  • Scaffold collapse or fall from scaffold: see step 2 for the full controls Control (procedures)
  • Check the forecast each morning and plan work at height and lifting around the weather. Eliminate
  • Tie down or weigh down loose sheets, panels, boards and rubbish at the end of each shift. Control (engineering)
  • Set wind limits for roof work, platforms and cranes, using the manufacturer's limits, and stop when they are reached. Control (procedures)
  • Stop work and get down in lightning. Wait 30 minutes after the last thunder before going back up. Control (procedures)
  • Check scaffold, fencing and edge protection after strong wind before anyone uses them. Control (procedures)
  • Do not carry large sheets on roofs in wind. Control (procedures)
  • Wear a hard hat with a chin strap at height in windy conditions. PPE
Medium (5)
2Check base, ties, bracing, planks, guardrails and toe boards
  • Scaffold collapse or fall from scaffold
  • Falling tools and materials
Workers, Public, People belowVery high (15)
  • Scaffold is built, altered and taken down only by CISRS-carded scaffolders, to TG20 or a specific design. Control (engineering)
  • Fit guardrails, mid rails and toe boards on every working platform. Control (engineering)
  • Use mobile scaffolds only on firm, level ground with castors locked and outriggers fitted. Never move one with anyone on it. Control (engineering)
  • Mobile towers are built by PASMA-trained workers. Control (procedures)
  • Inspect the scaffold before first use, after any change or bad weather, and at least every 7 days. Record it on the tag and register. Control (procedures)
  • Do not overload platforms. Know the duty rating and keep material stacks over the standards. Control (procedures)
  • Never remove ties, braces, guardrails or boards. Only the scaffolder alters the scaffold. Control (procedures)
  • Wear a hard hat and safety boots on and around the scaffold. PPE
  • Barricade and sign the drop zone under overhead work so nobody walks beneath. Isolate
  • Fit toe boards, kick plates and mesh screens on scaffolds and edges. Control (engineering)
  • Use catch fans, debris netting or covered walkways where people pass below. Control (engineering)
  • Tether hand tools when working at height. Control (engineering)
  • Keep platforms tidy. Do not stack materials near edges or above toe board height. Control (procedures)
  • Lower materials with a hoist, chute or rope. Never throw or drop anything down. Control (procedures)
  • Wear a hard hat anywhere objects could fall. PPE
Medium (8)
3Check access, ladder gates and loading limits
  • Falling from height
  • Falling from a ladder
Workers, People belowVery high (20)
  • Do the work from the ground where you can, for example pre-assemble on the ground or use extension poles. Eliminate
  • Install guardrails or edge protection on all open edges before work starts. Isolate
  • Use a scaffold, mobile tower or MEWP instead of working off a ladder. Control (engineering)
  • Where edge protection is not practical, use a fall restraint or fall arrest system on a rated anchor point. Control (engineering)
  • Have a rescue plan so a worker hanging in a harness can be brought down within minutes. Control (procedures)
  • Wear a full body harness with a shock-absorbing lanyard, clipped on at all times when using fall arrest. PPE
  • Use a podium step, mobile tower or MEWP for longer jobs instead of a straight ladder. Reduce / substitute
  • Use EN 131 professional ladders in good condition. Remove any damaged ladder from site. Control (engineering)
  • Set extension ladders at a 4 to 1 angle on firm, level ground, tied or footed, and reaching 1 metre above the landing. Control (engineering)
  • Use ladders only for short, light work (about 30 minutes in one spot). Do not carry heavy or awkward loads up a ladder. Control (procedures)
  • Keep three points of contact and your belt buckle between the stiles. Do not overreach. Control (procedures)
  • Do not work off the top three rungs of a leaning ladder. On a stepladder, do not stand on the top two steps (top three on swing-back or double-sided steps) unless there is a suitable handhold. Control (procedures)
  • Check the ladder before each use: feet, rungs, stiles and locks. Control (procedures)
  • Wear non-slip safety boots with clean soles. PPE
Medium (8)
4Tag the scaffold safe or not safe and record it
  • Scaffold collapse or fall from scaffold
Workers, Public, People belowVery high (15)
  • Scaffold collapse or fall from scaffold: see step 2 for the full controls Control (procedures)
Medium (5)

Method statement: sequence of work

  1. Inspect after erection, weekly, and after storms or changes
  2. Check base, ties, bracing, planks, guardrails and toe boards
  3. Check access, ladder gates and loading limits
  4. Tag the scaffold safe or not safe and record it

PPE

Safety bootsSafety helmetHi-vis vestSafety glasses

Plant and equipment

Tube and fitting or system scaffold: CISRS scaffolder card to erect, alter or dismantleMobile access tower: PASMA certificate

Permits and plans

Work at height permit

Emergency

Call 999. Add the nearest A&E, the assembly point and the first aider for your site.

Sign-off

Supervisor and every worker sign to confirm they have read and understood this RAMS.

Free RAMS template for scaffold inspection

Word (.docx) and PDF, A4 landscape, no email needed. Fill in your site details, then print or send it.

Word template (.docx)PDF template

Make yours in 2 minutes

Same document, filled in for your job. Answer a few yes or no questions, the crew signs on the phone, and you send the PDF.

Start this RAMS

Pre-start checklist for scaffold inspection

Tick these off before work starts. They come from the hazards, permits and equipment in this job.

The safe sequence of work

  1. Inspect after erection, weekly, and after storms or changes
  2. Check base, ties, bracing, planks, guardrails and toe boards
  3. Check access, ladder gates and loading limits
  4. Tag the scaffold safe or not safe and record it

Hazards to watch on scaffold inspection

The hazards most specific to this job, and the step where each one comes up.

Step 1, 2, 4Scaffold collapse or fall from scaffoldA scaffold that is badly built, overloaded or altered collapses or tips, or a worker falls from an unguarded platform.
Step 1Strong wind and stormsWind blows sheets, panels and people off roofs and scaffolds, and storms and lightning make work at height and lifting unsafe.
Step 3Falling from a ladderThe ladder slips or tips, or the worker overreaches, and they fall onto a hard surface.
Step 3Falling from heightA worker falls from any height where a fall could cause injury, such as an edge, platform or opening.
Step 2Falling tools and materialsTools, materials or debris fall from above and hit someone working or walking below.
Very likelyLikelyPossibleUnlikelyVery unlikelyHow bad it could be: Negligible to FatalBA
Highest risk on scaffold inspection: Very high before controls (B), down to Medium after controls (A), on the United Kingdom 5 by 5 risk matrix (likely and fatal becomes unlikely and major injury).

What changes on your site

This example covers the job itself. Your site may add more. Add controls for any of these that apply (the builder asks you these as yes or no questions):

  • Will anyone work on a roof?
  • Is there a fragile roof, skylight or clear roof sheet?
  • Will you use a MEWP (scissor lift or cherry picker)?
  • Was the building built before 2000?
  • Will you sand, scrape, burn off or cut old paint in a building from before 1992?

Licences and legal requirements in United Kingdom

Equipment on this job that needs a licence, ticket or training:

  • Tube and fitting or system scaffold: CISRS scaffolder card to erect, alter or dismantle
  • Mobile access tower: PASMA certificate

Employers must assess the risks of their work and record the significant findings (required where you employ 5 or more people). On CDM projects, contractors give their RAMS to the principal contractor before starting, and brief the workers on it.

Rules that apply: Work at Height Regulations 2005; Work at Height Regulations 2005, regulation 10 (falling objects).

Why RAMS get rejected

Principal contractors send documents back for these reasons. This example avoids them, but check yours too.

  • The method statement is only a list of headings that repeats the risk table and never says how the work is done.
  • The method sequence does not match the risk assessment, for example the method strips the roof before the scaffold is handed over.
  • Residual risk is still High after controls with no extra measures or explanation.
  • It reads as copied: another firm, another address, or wording that does not fit UK sites. HSE warns that copying an example and adding your name does not satisfy the law.
  • Work on an older building with no reference to an asbestos survey.
  • Plant and access equipment listed with no inspection, thorough examination or competence evidence.
  • No briefing record, no revision history, or no named supervisor.

Questions

Do I need RAMS for scaffold inspection?

You must assess the risks of scaffold inspection and record the significant findings if you employ 5 or more people. On CDM sites the principal contractor will ask for RAMS before you start.

Who signs the RAMS?

The person who wrote it and the person who approved it sign and date it. Every worker signs the briefing register after it is explained to them, and the principal contractor reviews and accepts it before you start.

How long do I keep it?

Keep this RAMS, every revision and the signed briefing register with the site file for the length of the job, and keep a copy in your records afterwards.

What PPE is needed for scaffold inspection?

Usually Safety boots, Safety helmet, Hi-vis vest, Safety glasses. The site rules may add more, so check with the principal contractor.

More scaffolding RAMS

RAMSScaffold Erection9 stepsRAMSScaffold Dismantling5 stepsRAMSMobile Tower Scaffold5 stepsRAMSEdge Protection5 stepsRAMSScaffold Adaptation5 steps

Related jobs in other trades

BricklayingBrickworkAlso involves scaffold collapse or fall from scaffoldRoofingRe-RoofingAlso involves strong wind and stormsDemolitionSoft StripAlso involves falling tools and materialsElectricalConsumer Unit ReplacementAlso involves falling from a ladder

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Blank RAMS template: free RAMS templates. Also for other countries: Australia (SWMS) · United States (JHA) · Canada (FLHA)

Sources