Ten Questions to Ask Whoever Writes Your RAMS — Free Checklist

If the risk assessment behind your method statement isn't good enough, it's your name on it. Not the software company's. Not the consultant's. Yours.

These ten questions take about five minutes to ask. They'll tell you how much of that you're carrying on your own.

Prove us wrong. We don't think most RAMS providers can say yes to these. We'd be glad to be wrong. Take the list to whoever does yours and ask. If they tick all ten, stay where you are — you're better off than most and you don't need us.

Some of what you'll find out:

• Who actually wrote it, and whether they'll put their name on it
• Whether anybody asked you about the job, or just sent a form
• What happens if whoever gave the answers got something wrong — and whether anyone would catch it
• Who carries it if the document turns out to be wrong
• What their liability is capped at, in pounds
• Whether they'll change it when the job changes

That third one is the question most people never think to ask. Somebody has to supply the hazards, the sequence, the plant, the trades — typed into a form or said down the phone, it makes no odds. That might be a site manager who's been at it twenty years. It might be someone in the office who's never been on a site. You get the same smart-looking document either way.

No trick questions. Nothing here is designed to catch anyone out. It's just worth knowing where you stand before somebody gets hurt, instead of after.

Three pages. Free, no catch. Print it and take it to your next renewal.

General information to help you ask better questions. Not legal advice, and not a substitute for your own competent person.