Copy, paste, change the site name, hope
Many of your clients, particularly facilities management companies, industrial sites and larger estates, require risk assessments and method statements for each job before an engineer attends. Some also require a permit to work for plant rooms, roof tanks or confined areas, issued by the client on the day or in advance.
In the office, producing RAMS means finding the last one for a similar job, copying it, changing the site name and contact details, adjusting a few sections, and emailing it to the client. Sometimes the old site name survives on page four. The client replies with questions, or approves it days later. Permits are arranged by phone. The engineer arrives and the gatehouse has no record of the approval.
Why RAMS eat office time
- Every RAMS is built by editing a previous one, so errors copy forward.
- Site details are retyped rather than pulled from your records.
- Client approval happens by email with no tracking.
- Permit requirements vary by client and site and are not recorded.
- The engineer has no clear view of whether paperwork is in place.
The content of the RAMS is your competent people's work and should stay that way. It is the assembly, sending and tracking that waste time.
The cost of paperwork that is not ready
Engineers turned away at the gate lose a day. Clients who receive RAMS with the wrong site name start to question the rest. Office staff spend hours on document editing. And jobs get delayed while approvals sit in someone's inbox.
RAMS assembled from approved parts
- Your competent person maintains a set of approved RAMS templates by job type: monitoring, sampling, tank cleaning, disinfection, TMV servicing and so on, each with a version and review date.
- When a job is created, the system assembles the RAMS from the right template and fills in site details, contacts, access notes and any site-specific hazards recorded against the site.
- Site-specific sections that need a person's input are highlighted for your competent person to complete or confirm.
- The RAMS is sent to the client contact with an accept or query link. Acceptance is recorded with name and date.
- Each client and site records its permit requirements. Jobs needing a permit show a permit task, with the reference recorded when issued.
- Jobs are not released to the engineer until the RAMS is accepted and required permits are in place, unless a supervisor overrides with a note.
| Paperwork | Tracked status | Blocks release? |
|---|---|---|
| RAMS | Drafted, sent, accepted, queried | Yes, until accepted |
| Permit to work | Required, requested, issued | Yes, if required |
| Site induction | Held or needed per engineer | Yes, if required |
| Client pre-start form | Sent, returned | Client choice |
Jobs that arrive at the gate ready
The office generates RAMS in minutes and spends its time on the sections that genuinely need thought. Clients get consistent, accurate documents and can accept them with one click. Engineers see on their phone that the RAMS is accepted and the permit reference is recorded before they set off.
Take a tank disinfection at an industrial client. The job is created from an accepted quote. The RAMS is assembled from the disinfection template with the site's access notes and roof access details. Your technical manager adds a paragraph about the client's shift pattern. The client's safety officer accepts it through the link and says a permit will be issued on arrival, which is recorded. The engineer's job shows both.
When a template is updated, every future RAMS uses the new version, and you can see which accepted RAMS used which version.
Recognise this in your office?
- RAMS are produced by editing old ones.
- Clients have received RAMS with another site's details.
- Client approvals are tracked in email.
- Engineers have arrived without a permit or induction in place.
- Producing RAMS takes a significant part of an administrator's week.