Two documents, one job · UK

Method statement vs risk assessment: the difference that matters.

They are not the same document and a principal contractor will notice if you send one doing the other's job. The risk assessment answers what could cause harm here and what we will do about it. The method statement answers how the task will actually be carried out, step by step, with those controls built into the sequence. Submitted together they are your RAMS, which is the document SITEPAPERS writes.

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§ 01

How the two documents divide the work

Risk assessment: identify the significant hazards, judge the risk, record the control measures; required by the Management Regulations 1999 regulation 3
Method statement: the sequence of operations with the controls from the risk assessment embedded where they bite
The risk assessment comes first: you cannot sequence controls you have not identified
Who reads which: a safety advisor checks the risk assessment logic; the site team work from the method statement; the principal contractor approves both
RAMS is the two together in one document, which is how UK principal contractors expect to receive it
A score table on its own does not get you on site, and a sequence with no hazard logic behind it does not survive review; the pair is the point

Written to: MHSWR 1999 regulation 3, HSWA 1974 section 2, CDM 2015 regulation 13. Every document is job-specific; padding is what gets paperwork rejected.

§ 02

How it works

Order and tell us the task

£89 fixed, paid securely by card, Apple Pay or Google Pay. Then a ten-question intake: the job, the site, your crew and plant, anything unusual.

5 minutes

Written, then signed off

Your RAMS, method statement included, is written for that exact task and reviewed by an SMSTS qualified professional with years running live UK sites.

Within 24h

Send it, get approved, start

Branded PDF plus editable Word, one revision round included. If the principal contractor comments, we turn the revision around.

PDF + DOCX

§ 03

Questions, answered

Do I need both documents?

For construction tasks on a managed site, yes in practice: the principal contractor expects RAMS, which contains both. The risk assessment satisfies the legal duty to assess; the method statement shows the safe system of work.

Is RAMS one document or two?

One submitted package. Inside it the risk assessment and the method statement stay distinct sections doing distinct jobs, cross-referring to each other.

Can I send just a risk assessment to the principal contractor?

You can, and it will usually bounce with a request for the method statement. Sending the full RAMS first time is faster, which is why we only write them that way.

Fixed rate, no subscription

Your method statement is inside a full RAMS, back within 24h of your completed intake.

Order now · £89

Also available: the construction phase plan £199 and the full site pack £349