How to generate a RAMS document in Validate

A RAMS that will stand up on a live UK site needs the method, the hazards, the controls, the PPE and the sign-offs, all specific to the job in hand. Validate drafts the document for you from your project programme and its hazard library, one section per trade, and you review and approve it before anyone signs it on site.

The draft is the starting point, not the finished article. The review is where you earn the signature at the bottom.

Before you start

• The project needs a programme with tasks linked to your task library. The builder groups the work into trade workstacks from those links, so unlinked tasks will not appear.
• Know the site: the address, whether the building is occupied, and whether it is a refurbishment. These answers change the hazards that go in.

Step 1: Start a new RAMS

Go to Health & Safety, open the RAMS library and click + Add RAMS.

Step 2: Pick the project and confirm the site

Choose the project. Enter or confirm the site address, which is used for the document header and for locating the nearest A&E. If the work is in an occupied or pre-2000 building, tick the refurbishment box: it adds hazards such as asbestos that a new build does not carry.

Step 3: Choose the trade workstacks

The builder lists the trade workstacks it found in your programme, all ticked by default, with the task count for each. Untick any you do not need. The result is one document with a section per trade, which is far easier to manage on site than a folder of separate RAMS.

Step 4: Confirm the site conditions

Two checkboxes cover the common conditions: whether the premises are occupied, and whether other trades or the public will be present. Both default to ticked. Set them to match reality, because they drive the interface hazards in the document.

Step 5: Generate the document

Click Generate RAMS. Drafting takes up to a couple of minutes and the progress of each workstack is shown as it completes. Keep the window open. If one workstack fails, the document is still created without it and you can re-run to add it.

Step 6: Review the draft properly

You land on the new document in draft status. Work through the tabs: the method statement, the hazards with their before-and-after risk ratings, the controls, the PPE, the required competencies, the plant and equipment, and any COSHH assessments. Check every flagged point. This is a competent-person review, not a skim: correct anything that does not match how the work will actually be done.

Step 7: Mark it reviewed, then issue it

When the content is right, click Mark as reviewed. To put it to work on site, click Issue RAMS. Validate asks you to confirm a competent-person attestation covering the method, hazards, controls, residual ratings, PPE and competence, and you must accept responsibility for the content before it issues. If the work involves working at height or a confined space, a proper rescue plan is required before the document will issue.

Step 8: Download and keep it current

Click Download PDF for the formatted document: cover, method, sequence, five-by-five risk table, PPE and sign-off page. Operatives sign the issued document. If the job changes, click Revise: the document clones to a new revision, the old one is marked superseded with its signatures intact, and the crew signs the new revision.

If something looks wrong

• No workstacks appear. Your programme tasks are not linked to the task library. Fix the links on the Programme page and start again.
• A workstack failed to generate. The document was created without it. Run + Add RAMS again to include it.
• Issue is blocked on a rescue plan. Working at height and confined spaces need a rescue plan of substance before issue. Write the real plan, not a placeholder.