When this template fits
Aimed at the squads who install and remove temporary edge protection — guardrail systems on slabs, steel decks, leading edges and excavations — ahead of the trades that work behind it. Because the installers themselves are exposed to the very edge they are protecting, the principal contractor checks how the first run is fitted before any guardrail exists. It is written for operatives competent in the proprietary system being used.
What this RAMS includes
- ✓ 9 task-specific hazards scored on a 5×5 matrix (initial → residual)
- ✓ Specific control measures for each hazard, in hierarchy-of-control order
- ✓ A 10-step method statement (sequence of works)
- ✓ PPE, plant/equipment, permits and competence requirements
- ✓ Emergency arrangements and operative briefing / sign-off section
Scope of works
Install temporary edge protection / guardrails.
Sequence of works
- 1Pre-work planning: Review the risk assessment and RAMS, confirm the scaffold design or verify against TG20 / bespoke design, check weather forecast, and brief the gang on the sequence of work, hazards and emergency procedures.
- 2Site set-up: Establish exclusion zones beneath and around the work area with barriers and signage. Confirm overhead electrical services are identified and safe clearance is maintained. Notify other trades that the area is restricted.
- 3Equipment inspection: Inspect all scaffold tubes, couplers, boards and guardrail components for defects before use. Remove and quarantine any damaged items. Check that harnesses, lanyards and anchor points are in serviceable condition if fall arrest is required during a transitional phase.
- 4Establish safe access: Erect or confirm the availability of a safe, fully boarded access platform with a minimum working width of 600 mm and secure ladder access before edge protection installation begins. Attach 'Scaffold Incomplete' signs and block ladder access to other trades.
- 5Install standards, ledgers and transoms: Erect the primary scaffold structure in accordance with the design or TG20 working load tables. Ensure all couplers are torqued correctly. Maintain advance guarding or use harness during the erection of any section that temporarily exposes an unprotected edge.
- 6Install edge protection components: Fix top guardrails at 950 mm–1150 mm above the platform, mid-rails at approximately 470 mm, and toeboards (minimum 150 mm high) to all open sides and ends. Use brick guards or debris netting where required.
- 7Lay and secure scaffold boards: Place boards to give a fully boarded working surface with no gaps greater than 25 mm and adequate overhang (50–150 mm). Secure boards against displacement by wind or accidental disturbance.
- 8Final inspection: Conduct a thorough pre-use inspection of the completed edge protection installation against a recognised checklist. Record the inspection findings. The supervising scaffolder must confirm the structure is safe before issue of the handover certificate.
- 9Handover and communication: Issue the scaffold handover certificate to the principal contractor. Remove 'Incomplete' signage and barriers. Communicate the safe-access routes and any load restrictions to all users at the next site briefing or toolbox talk.
- 10Ongoing monitoring: Inspect the scaffold at least every 7 days and following any event likely to affect stability (adverse weather, impact, alterations). Re-erect or repair any components that become defective and re-issue the handover certificate after any significant alteration.
Hazards, risk rating & controls
Risk = likelihood × severity (1–25). Initial is before controls; residual is with controls applied.
Fall from height during installation or work at height
Who’s at risk: Operatives, Other trades on site
- › Use an advance guardrail system or pre-assembled edge protection unit so the leading edge is protected before the operative reaches it. Eliminate the unprotected-edge phase wherever practicable.
- › Provide a fully boarded, guarded working platform at the correct working height so operatives are not required to lean out or overreach.
- › Where a collective fall-prevention system cannot be in place during a brief transitional phase, operatives must wear a full-body harness attached to a suitable anchor point to arrest any fall.
Falling objects from working at height
Who’s at risk: Operatives, Other trades on site
- › Establish a clearly signed and physically barriered exclusion zone directly beneath and around the installation area to prevent access by unauthorised persons.
- › Fit toeboards (minimum 150 mm) and, where necessary, brick guards or debris netting to the working platform to contain materials and tools.
- › Secure hand tools with tool lanyards or carry in a secured tool bag to prevent accidental drops.
- › All persons within the vicinity of overhead work must wear a safety helmet compliant with EN 397.
Manual handling — heavy or bulky items
Who’s at risk: Operatives, Other trades on site
- › Use a sack truck, boiler lift trolley, or mechanical hoist to move the unit from delivery point to installation position. Avoid manual lifting of units above 25 kg where practicable.
- › Ensure all operatives have received manual handling training. Enforce two-person lifts for components that are awkward or heavy.
- › Wear suitable work gloves to improve grip and reduce hand fatigue when handling metal scaffold components.
Slips, trips and falls at same level
Who’s at risk: Operatives, Other trades on site
- › Wear footwear with slip-resistant soles rated for wet surfaces.
- › Inspect the working platform before each shift for damaged boards, missing boards, trip hazards and contamination (ice, mud, debris). Remove or remedy defects before work begins.
- › Keep the working platform clear of unused materials, offcuts and tools. Designate a specific area for stored components.
Scaffold collapse or structural instability
Who’s at risk: Operatives, Other trades on site
- › Ensure the edge protection installation is designed or verified by a competent person. A formal pre-use inspection must be completed and recorded before any operative uses the structure.
- › Only CISRS card-holding scaffolders of the appropriate grade should erect, alter or dismantle edge protection scaffold. Competency must be verified before work starts.
- › Issue a scaffold handover certificate (TG20 or similar) confirming the structure is safe for use before access is given to other trades.
Contact with overhead electric lines or cables
Who’s at risk: Operatives, Other trades on site
- › Identify all overhead power lines before work begins. Where possible, arrange for the line to be de-energised or diverted by the DNO before scaffold erection commences.
- › Where lines cannot be de-energised, erect goal-post barriers to enforce safe clearance distances in accordance with HSE guidance. Do not position scaffold within the exclusion zone.
- › Implement a written permit-to-work system controlling all scaffold activities near live overhead services.
Adverse weather conditions affecting work at height
Who’s at risk: Operatives, Other trades on site
- › Monitor weather forecasts daily. Establish a site rule to suspend work at height in winds exceeding Beaufort Scale 5 (around 29 km/h) or during lightning, ice or other severe conditions.
- › Empower the site supervisor or scaffold gang leader to stop work at height without penalty whenever conditions deteriorate to an unsafe level.
Unauthorised or inadvertent access to incomplete scaffold
Who’s at risk: Operatives, Other trades on site
- › Attach highly visible 'Scaffold Incomplete — Do Not Use' signs to all access points and ladder access throughout the installation phase. Use physical barriers (tape or boards across ladder access) to prevent access.
- › Include the scaffold status and no-access rule in daily toolbox talks and site inductions so all workers on site are aware.
Noise-induced hearing loss from power tools and plant
Who’s at risk: Operatives, Other trades on site
- › Wear EN 352-rated ear defenders or ear plugs (SNR appropriate to noise level) during sustained drilling, chasing or grinding operations.
- › Where drilling or impact operations are required, select tools with the lowest published vibration magnitude that achieves the task.
- › Monitor daily vibration exposure against EAV and ELV limits. Rotate tasks to limit individual exposure below the Exposure Action Value (2.5 m/s²).
PPE
- ✓ Safety footwear (EN ISO 20345)
- ✓ Hi-vis clothing
- ✓ Safety gloves (task-appropriate)
- ✓ Hard hat (EN 397) where overhead risk or site rules require
- ✓ Safety harness and lanyard where fall arrest is the selected control
- ✓ Insulated gloves where live work is unavoidable
- ✓ Hearing protection (to the assessed SNR)
Competence
- ✓ CISRS-carded scaffolders and a competent scaffold supervisor
- ✓ Site induction completed; CSCS or equivalent where the site requires it
Schemes (CSCS, PASMA, IPAF…) evidence competence; they are not statutory requirements in themselves.
Plant & equipment
- › Proprietary EN 13374 guardrail posts, principal and intermediate rails
- › Mesh barrier panels or toe boards to retain components
- › Post fixings — slab clamps, cast-in sockets or counterweight bases
- › Fall-arrest harness and lanyard for the leading-edge first run
- › Cordless fixing tools with tool tethers
Permits & legislation
What principal contractors usually check
- ✓ How the installer is protected on the first run before any guardrail exists, not just the finished barrier
- ✓ That the EN 13374 class (A/B/C) matches the edge angle and is justified, not generic 'guardrail'
- ✓ That a handover inspection signs off rail continuity and fixings before trades rely on it
- ✓ The document is site-specific — real address, access arrangements and dates, not a generic template
- ✓ Hazards match the actual task and the controls are specific (not “take care” and “use PPE”)
- ✓ Named supervisor and competent person, with operative sign-off space
- ✓ Emergency and rescue arrangements that work for this site
The report builder runs these as pre-submission checks before you download — or run an existing document through the free RAMS pre-submission checker.
Frequently asked questions
What do the EN 13374 classes A, B and C mean?
EN 13374 sorts temporary edge protection by the type of surface and the energy it must resist. Class A suits near-flat surfaces (up to about 10 degrees) and resists a static load — the common slab-edge guardrail. Class B handles steeper surfaces and lower-energy dynamic falls, and Class C is for steep or pitched surfaces where the system must arrest a sliding person, such as on a roof. Picking the wrong class — a Class A rail on a pitched roof — gives a false sense of protection, so your RAMS should state the class and why it fits the edge.
How do edge-protection installers protect themselves before the rail is up?
This is the crux of the job and the first thing a reviewer asks. The installation is sequenced so operatives work from an already-protected position toward the open edge wherever the layout allows, fitting the first posts and rails before stepping into the exposed zone. Where exposure to the open edge is unavoidable for the first run, a personal fall-arrest lanyard clipped to a verified anchor protects the installer until the collective barrier exists. A RAMS that shows the finished guardrail but is silent on how the first run goes up has missed the highest-risk part of the task.
What regulations apply to edge protection?
Work at Height Regulations 2005, Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992, Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, reg 3 — risk assessment are the main ones, alongside Electricity at Work Regulations 1989, Control of Noise at Work Regulations 2005. The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and CDM 2015 apply to all construction work.
Does a method statement need to be site-specific?
Yes — this is the most common reason documents get sent back. Principal contractors reject generic copy-paste RAMS. Your document should name the site, access arrangements, dates, supervisor and any site-specific hazards. The RamsDocs builder fills these in for you and flags what's missing before you download.
Is this template free?
Yes — everything on RamsDocs is free during early access, including building a site-specific version of this RAMS and downloading the PDF. No card required.