RAMS Template for Electricians: What to Include in 2026

Most electricians know how to work safely. Where they come unstuck is writing it down in a way a principal contractor will accept first time. A rejected RAMS means a lost morning on site, or a job that goes to someone whose paperwork was ready.

This guide covers what an electrical RAMS should contain in 2026, the law behind it, a worked example and the mistakes that get documents rejected.

What RAMS means for an electrician

RAMS stands for risk assessment and method statement. They are two documents that usually travel together.

• The risk assessment identifies what could cause harm on this job, who could be harmed, and what you are doing to control it.
• The method statement explains how the work will be carried out, in order, so that those controls actually happen on the day.

Under the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, every employer and self-employed person whose work poses a risk to others must carry out a suitable and sufficient risk assessment. If you employ five or more people, the significant findings must be written down. A method statement is not always a legal requirement on its own, but on any commercial site, and on most domestic work for a main contractor, you will not get past the gate without one.

The regulations your RAMS should reflect

• Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974: the general duty to protect anyone affected by your work.
• Electricity at Work Regulations 1989: work dead unless live working is genuinely justified.
• CDM 2015: applies to all construction work, domestic jobs included.
• Work at Height Regulations 2005: ladders, podiums, towers and lofts.
• Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012: critical for any building constructed before 2000.
• BS 7671 and HSE guidance note GS38: the wiring regulations and the standard for test probes and voltage indicators.

A RAMS template for electrical work, section by section

1. Job details

Site address, client, principal contractor if there is one, your company name, the named supervisor, the date of issue and a revision number. A RAMS with the wrong address tells the reader it was copied.

2. Scope of work

Describe exactly what you are doing. "Replace existing consumer unit with an 18th Edition compliant dual RCD board, test and certify all circuits" is useful. "Electrical works" is not.

3. Hazards and controls

List the hazards that apply to this job, not every hazard in the trade. For each one, record who is at risk, the controls, and the risk rating after those controls. Typical hazards for electricians include:

• Electric shock and burns from live or back-fed conductors
• Asbestos in old consumer unit backboards, flash guards, textured ceilings and ceiling voids
• Work at height from stepladders, podiums and in lofts
• Striking hidden pipes and cables when drilling or chasing
• Silica dust from chasing masonry
• Manual handling of cable drums and distribution boards
• Lone working and working in occupied homes

4. Safe isolation procedure

This is the section a competent reviewer reads first. Set it out as numbered steps:

• Identify the circuit or supply to be worked on
• Isolate using the correct device and secure it with a lock and warning label
• Prove the voltage indicator on a known live source or proving unit
• Test the circuit dead, between all conductors and to earth
• Re-prove the voltage indicator to confirm it still works
• Keep the key on your person until the work is complete

5. Sequence of work

Step through the job in order: induction, protection, isolation, removal, installation, testing, re-energising, certification and handover.

6. Equipment and PPE

List test instruments with calibration dates, GS38 compliant probes and indicators, lock-off kits, access equipment, dust extraction for chasing, and the PPE required, such as safety boots, eye protection and FFP3 masks where dust is produced.

7. Emergency arrangements

Nearest hospital with an emergency department, first aider, first aid kit location, site contact number and what to do after an electric shock.

8. Briefing and sign-off

Everyone doing the work signs to say they have read and understood the RAMS. Unsigned RAMS are rejected almost as often as generic ones.

Worked example: consumer unit replacement in an occupied house

A 1970s semi, family living in, board in the hallway cupboard. Before writing anything, a site visit shows a fibrous backboard behind the old fuse box and a textured ceiling above it.

• Hazard: possible asbestos in the backboard. Control: stop, do not drill or remove, and arrange sampling or a refurbishment survey before work starts.
• Hazard: shock from the supply side. Control: the distribution network operator isolates the supply, or the main switch is locked off with tails treated as live.
• Hazard: occupants losing power, heating and alarms. Control: agree a start time with the client and restore essential circuits first.
• Hazard: trip hazard from tools and cable in a hallway. Control: keep a clear route and tidy up at every break.

Four specific hazards with real controls beat a two-page list of everything that could go wrong.

Mistakes that get electrical RAMS rejected

• Copied from another job, with the wrong address, scope or dates
• No written safe isolation procedure
• Asbestos not considered on a pre-2000 building
• Risk ratings given without any controls listed against them
• Nobody has signed to say they were briefed

Spend less time on the paperwork

Good RAMS take time, and that time usually comes out of your evenings. MyQS includes a RAMS generator that builds trade-specific risk assessments and method statements for UK electricians in minutes, ready to download as a PDF, so you can edit the details for the job rather than start from a blank page.

FAQ: RAMS for electricians

Q: Do sole trader electricians legally need RAMS?
A: You must carry out a risk assessment if your work could affect other people, which covers almost every job. The written record is a legal requirement once you have five or more employees, but clients and principal contractors will ask for written RAMS regardless of your size.

Q: Can I use the same RAMS for every job?
A: Keep a standard template, but review and edit each issue for the site, the scope and the hazards found. A generic document that does not match the job gives you little protection if something goes wrong.

Q: When should I update my RAMS?
A: Whenever something changes. That includes a change in scope, a new hazard found on site such as suspected asbestos, a change of team, or a near miss. Record a new revision number and brief everyone again.

Get your next RAMS done tonight

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