Guidance · Reviewed August 2026
What a method statement is, how it differs from a risk assessment, what belongs in one, and why no law requires it by name yet no principal contractor will let you start without it.
The short answer
A method statement describes step by step how a task will be carried out safely. A risk assessment identifies what could cause harm and what controls are needed. Together they are RAMS. The risk assessment is a legal requirement; the method statement is not named in law — but on any higher-risk job it is the ticket onto site.
Risk Assessment or Method Statement?
They get confused constantly, and they are not the same document. The simplest framing: the risk assessment is the investigation, the method statement is the instruction manual.
| Risk assessment | Method statement | |
|---|---|---|
| Answers | What could go wrong, who could be harmed, and what controls are needed? | How will the job actually be done, in what order, by whom? |
| Identifies hazards? | Yes — that is its purpose. | No. It assumes the hazards are already known and sets out the safe system of work. |
| Legal status | Required by regulation 3 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999. Significant findings recorded at five or more employees. | Not named in law. Required in practice by clients, principal contractors and the need to evidence a safe system of work. |
| Written for | The employer, and anyone reviewing whether risk was properly considered. | The people doing the work. |
You will also meet safe system of work and safe work method statement (SWMS) — the latter Australian, occasionally used by multinationals. Functionally the same thing under different names.
Is a Method Statement a Legal Requirement?
Not by name — but that is not the useful answer
No UK regulation requires a document called a method statement. What the law requires is a safe system of work: section 2 of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 requires safe systems of work to be provided so far as is reasonably practicable.
On construction projects, CDM 2015 puts it more specifically. Regulation 13 requires the principal contractor to plan, manage and monitor the construction phase so that work is carried out without risks to health or safety so far as is reasonably practicable. Regulation 15 places the equivalent duty on each contractor for their own work.
A written method statement is the recognised way of demonstrating you have done that for a higher-risk task. HSE treats it as a way of meeting the regulations rather than a requirement in itself.
In practice the distinction rarely helps you. For work at height, excavation, lifting operations, hot works, confined spaces or work near live services, no principal contractor will let a subcontractor start without approved RAMS. They are effectively mandatory whatever the letter of the law says, and they are frequently requested at tender stage before anyone gets near a site.
There is a reason for that, and it is worth understanding rather than resenting. The principal contractor’s regulation 13 duty to plan, manage and monitor the whole construction phase is discharged partly by reviewing the risk assessments and written safe systems of work of every contractor on site. Your RAMS are how they evidence their own compliance — which is also why generic ones get rejected.
What Goes in a Method Statement
The test worth applying: could someone who was not in the planning meeting carry out this task safely using only this document? If not, it is not finished.
The job and the site
What the work is, where it is, when it starts, how long it takes. Site address, client, project reference, and who wrote and approved the document with dates.
The sequence
A step-by-step description of the work in the order it happens. This is the heart of it and the part most often reduced to a paragraph of generalities.
Who does what
Roles and responsibilities, supervision arrangements, and the competence or training each step requires — cards, tickets, certificates.
Plant, equipment and PPE
What is being used, inspection and certification status, and what PPE is required at which step — not a blanket list at the end.
Controls in context
The controls from the risk assessment, placed at the step where they apply. Exclusion zones, isolation, permits, edge protection, extraction.
Emergencies and welfare
First aid arrangements, emergency and rescue procedures, who to call, and the welfare provision for the people on the job.
Everyone involved in the task should get a copy and be briefed on it. A method statement filed in the site office and never read has produced paperwork rather than safety, and that is exactly how it will be treated if something goes wrong.
Where RAMS Fit With Permits to Work
The logical sequence is: assess the risk, and where the risk or complexity is high, write a method statement setting out the safe system of work. For the highest-risk activities a permit to work then puts that system into effect on the day — confirming isolation is in place, conditions have been checked, and authorising the work to start within defined limits.
Hot works, confined space entry, work on live systems and excavation near services typically need all three. The permit is not a substitute for the method statement; it is the mechanism that confirms the method is actually being followed.
Who Should Write Them
Someone competent — with the training, knowledge and experience for the work in question. In most organisations that means a supervisor, site manager or health and safety adviser who understands both the task and the controls, working with the people who actually do the job.
That last part matters more than it sounds. A method statement written entirely at a desk usually describes an idealised version of the work, and operatives quietly work around it. Involving the people doing the job produces a document that reflects reality and is far more likely to be followed.
Where RAMS Go Wrong
| The problem | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Generic and reused | The same document with the site name changed. Principal contractors read a lot of these and recognise them instantly — and it fails the test of whether someone could do the job from it. |
| Written but never briefed | If the crew has not read it, it is not a system of work. Record the briefing and who attended. |
| Duplicating the risk assessment | Re-listing hazards instead of describing the method. The method statement’s job is the sequence, not the analysis. |
| Length mistaken for quality | Forty pages nobody reads is worse than four that get followed. Detail should track the risk, not the desire to look thorough. |
| Never revised | The method changes on site and the document does not. Revise it, re-brief, and date the revision. |
| Treated as a tender document | Written to win the job rather than to do it safely. The gap between the two shows up at the first incident. |
Being asked for RAMS you don’t have?
It usually means a client or principal contractor is pre-qualifying you. A health and safety risk review will show what else is likely to be asked for at the same time — policy, assessments, training records and often CHAS or SSIP accreditation.
Training
| If you need to… | Usual route |
|---|---|
| Write RAMS | Risk Assessment and Method Statement, or the wider risk assessment training courses. |
| Assess risk properly first | IOSH Managing Safely — three days, with risk assessment at its core. |
| Supervise or manage a site | SSSTS for supervisors, SMSTS for site managers — both cover RAMS in practice. |
| Hold a formal qualification | NEBOSH General Certificate, or the Construction Certificate for site-based roles. |
Frequently Asked Questions
What does RAMS stand for?
Risk Assessment and Method Statement. It is not a separate type of document — it simply means both documents supplied together, which is how clients and principal contractors normally ask for them.
Is a method statement a legal requirement?
Not as a named document. The law requires a safe system of work, and on construction projects CDM 2015 requires the principal contractor to plan, manage and monitor the construction phase (regulation 13) and each contractor to do the same for their own work (regulation 15). A written method statement is the recognised way of showing you have done that for higher-risk work — and in practice principal contractors will not allow that work to start without one.
What’s the difference between a risk assessment and a method statement?
The risk assessment identifies the hazards, who could be harmed and what controls are needed. The method statement assumes that work is done and sets out how the task will actually be carried out, step by step. The risk assessment is a legal requirement; the method statement is how you put its conclusions into practice.
When do I need a method statement?
Whenever the risk or complexity is high enough that the controls need explaining in sequence — work at height, excavation, lifting, demolition, hot works, confined spaces, work near live services. Also whenever a client or principal contractor asks for one, which on construction sites is most of the time.
Can I use a template?
As a structure, yes. As the finished article, no. A method statement describes one specific task on one specific site, and a template that hasn’t been adapted fails the only test that matters — whether someone could safely do the job from it. Reused generic RAMS are the thing principal contractors reject most often.
How long should a method statement be?
Long enough to describe the method and no longer. Detail should track the risk — a straightforward task might need two pages, a complex lift considerably more. A short document that gets read and followed beats a long one that sits in the site office, and length is not what an inspector is assessing.
Related Guidance
Safe systems of work →
CDM Regulations →
CHAS accreditation →
Working at height →
All guidance topics →
General guidance only, reviewed August 2026. A method statement should be written by a competent person for the specific task and site. Envico is an independent training intermediary and is not affiliated with the HSE.