How to write high-quality method statements

For any business that employs five or more people, written risk assessments are a legal requirement. Although method statements aren’t a legal requirement, the Health & Safety Executive (HSE) suggests they are an effective and practical way to help plan, manage and monitor construction work, and they are becoming a standard expectation in many construction workplaces.

Today, it is not unusual for method statements to be requested at the tender stage of a contract. When work is then awarded, there is an expectation for risk assessments and method statements to be shared before work starts to demonstrate further due diligence.

Where high-risk activities are concerned (such as demolition and structural works), method statements also offer an opportunity to develop logical and robust working methods, with an aim to reduce the chances for serious incidents to occur.     

Creating high-quality RAMS

It is clearly beneficial to produce high-quality method statements, but they can be difficult to get right. In fact, creating appropriate method statements is one of the biggest barriers to contractors successfully completing the CHAS health & safety assessment process.

There are no hard and fast rules for what to include and exclude from method statements, but there are some common mistakes to avoid. These include:

Four top tips for creating effective method statements

Further RAMS guidance

The HSE has helpful advice on RAMS. CHAS and HandsHQ provide software which allows RAMS to be customised and includes features such as a COSHH databases for chemical safety, where safety documents can be stored.

Alex Minett is head of products and markets at CHAS.