Groundworks RAMS UK 2026: what every excavation risk assessment and method statement must cover

Why groundworks RAMS get the hardest scrutiny on site

Excavation is one of the most dangerous activities in UK construction. The HSE consistently lists ground collapse and being struck by plant among the leading causes of fatal and major injuries on site, and almost every serious incident traces back to the same root cause: a safe system of work that was either never written down properly or was written from a generic template that did not reflect the actual ground, the actual services, or the actual plant on the job.

That is why a groundworks RAMS gets more scrutiny than almost any other trade document. A principal contractor who will wave through a painter's method statement will read a groundworks RAMS line by line, because the consequences of getting it wrong are a buried operative or a struck gas main. The Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 do not prescribe a format, but they require the document to be suitable and sufficient for the specific work. For groundworks, "specific" means this ground, these services, this support system, this plant.

The test is the same one that applies to any RAMS: if a different gang who had never seen this site picked up your RAMS, could they carry out the dig safely without further verbal briefing? For groundworks, where the hazards are mostly invisible until something goes wrong, that bar is unforgiving. A copy-paste template does not clear it.

The 8 sections every groundworks RAMS must contain

HSE inspectors and CDM coordinators are not looking for a particular structure. They are looking for content that proves you have thought about this specific dig. The eight sections below are the ones that consistently come up when a groundworks RAMS is examined. A missing section is where the awkward questions start.

1. Activity and scope of works

Not "we are excavating". State the type of excavation (strip footings, pad foundations, deep drainage run, bulk dig to formation, basement, service trench), the depth and dimensions, the volume, the ground type if known from the site investigation, the formation level, and the duration. Inspectors read this first to judge whether the rest of the RAMS is plausible. A trench described as "1.5 metres deep" needs different support to one at "3.5 metres", and the controls below have to match the scope stated here.

2. Description of works

A short prose summary of how the dig will actually be done. The excavation method (machine dig, hand dig, or machine dig with hand-dig zones near services), the support strategy (battering back to a safe angle, trench boxes, drag boxes, sheet piling, or proprietary shoring), the spoil management, and any dewatering. Reference the temporary works design and who carried it out if the excavation needs designed support. If the job has a basement, a deep manhole, or a confined chamber, flag it here and carry it into the sequence below.

3. Sequence of events

This is the longest section and the one read most closely. Break the work into phases: arrival and set-up, service location and marking, exclusion zone and plant set-up, excavation, support installation, works in the excavation, backfill, and reinstatement. Each phase gets numbered steps specific to the job. "Excavate trench" is not a step. "Hand-dig trial holes to expose and confirm the marked water main before any mechanical excavation within 500mm of its marked position, in line with HSG47" is a step. If your sequence references HSG47 without describing how you will locate and avoid services, you will be marked down.

4. Plant and equipment

Every item used needs what it is, what it is for, and the standards that apply. For a 13-tonne excavator: "bulk excavation and trenching, LOLER 1998 thorough examination current, daily pre-use check, trained and competent operator (CPCS or NPORS), quick-hitch with safety pin checked". For a CAT and Genny: "locating buried services, calibrated within the last 12 months, operator trained in HSG47 detection technique, signal generator used on traceable services". Trench boxes, drag boxes, shoring, pumps, dumpers and the banksman's communication equipment all belong here with their inspection regime. Listing plant without certificates or inspection dates tells an inspector you may not have them.

5. Safety responsibilities

Name the roles. Principal Contractor, Contracts Manager, Site Supervisor, the temporary works coordinator and temporary works supervisor if the excavation needs designed support, the excavator operator (CPCS or NPORS), the banksman or signaller, and the appointed person for any lifting. If the work involves a confined space, name the confined space entrant, the top-man and the emergency rescuer. If the dig is in or near a live carriageway, name who holds the Chapter 8 traffic management responsibility. The point is an unambiguous chain of responsibility before a spade goes in the ground.

6. PPE required

List by EN standard. Helmet to EN 397. Footwear to EN ISO 20345 with 200J toe and midsole penetration protection (essential on a dig full of buried offcuts and rebar). Hi-vis to EN ISO 20471, Class 3 where plant and pedestrians share ground. Gloves to EN 388 with the cut and impact level. Eye protection to EN 166. Hearing protection to EN 352 around breakers and plant. RPE to EN 149 FFP3 where there is silica dust from cutting or contaminated ground, face-fit tested. Where confined space entry applies, the RAMS specifies the gas monitor (calibrated, bump-tested) and escape set as part of the entry controls, not as general PPE.

7. Relevant legislation and guidance

Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, CDM 2015, the Work at Height Regulations 2005 (excavation edges and falls into the dig), PUWER 1998, LOLER 1998, the Confined Spaces Regulations 1997 where they apply, Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992, COSHH 2002 (silica, contaminated ground), the Control of Noise at Work Regulations 2005, the Control of Vibration at Work Regulations 2005, the Electricity at Work Regulations 1989, and RIDDOR 2013. Then the HSE guidance that does the heavy lifting for groundworks: HSG47 Avoiding Danger from Underground Services, and the HSE excavation guidance on supporting the sides of excavations and preventing falls of ground. Where the work is in the highway, reference the New Roads and Street Works Act and the Chapter 8 traffic management requirements.

8. Worker sign-off

A blank table for name, signature and date is the minimum. Better is a QR code that opens a sign-off page on a phone and records who has read the RAMS and when. Inspectors increasingly expect digital sign-off because paper sheets are easy to fake and easy to lose in a muddy site cabin. If you can show a list of every operative who has read this specific RAMS in the last seven days, you are well ahead of the bar.

The buried-services problem: HSG47 done properly

The single most common reason a groundworks RAMS gets sent back is that it mentions HSG47 by name but does not describe the safe system of work it requires. HSG47, the HSE's guidance on avoiding danger from underground services, sets out three basic elements of safe excavation: planning the work, locating and identifying buried services, and safe excavation itself. A compliant RAMS shows all three, not just the title.

Planning means obtaining the utility records before anyone digs. Statutory undertakers' drawings, a utility search, and on a major dig the National Grid Plant Protection contact (0800 688 588) for gas. Locating means scanning the ground with a calibrated CAT and Genny by an operator trained in the technique, then marking what is found and recording it on a plan that goes to the gang. Safe excavation means assuming services are present until proven otherwise, hand-digging trial holes to expose and confirm services before mechanical excavation comes near them, never using mechanical excavation within the safe distance of a marked or suspected service, and supporting exposed services during the works and during backfill (and never backfilling around a pipe with concrete).

If your RAMS spells out those controls, in those terms, it shows you understand HSG47. If it says "work will be carried out in accordance with HSG47" and stops there, it does not.

Site-specific modifiers: when generic isn't enough

The same trench on a different site is not the same job. A drainage run across an open green-field plot and the same run across a live town-centre footpath next to a gas main are radically different from a risk perspective. The RAMS has to reflect that through site-specific modifiers - sections that activate when particular conditions apply. The conditions that consistently change the risk profile for groundworks include:

• Deep excavation requiring designed support. Once an excavation is deep enough that battering back is not practical, the support becomes temporary works. The RAMS must reference the temporary works design, name the temporary works coordinator, and describe the installation and removal sequence for the trench boxes, shoring or sheet piling.
• Buried services present or suspected. The full HSG47 system above, with the utility records referenced, the CAT scan recorded, the services marked on a plan, and the hand-dig zones defined. On any urban or brownfield site this modifier always applies.
• Confined space (deep manholes, chambers, headings). Entry under the Confined Spaces Regulations 1997: a confined space risk assessment, atmospheric monitoring with a calibrated and bump-tested gas detector, forced ventilation, a permit-to-enter, a top-man, and a rehearsed emergency rescue plan that does not rely on the emergency services arriving in time.
• Contaminated ground. On brownfield or former industrial sites, the RAMS references the contamination report, the controls for the contaminants identified (hydrocarbons, asbestos in made ground, heavy metals), the decontamination arrangements, and the waste classification and disposal route.
• Groundwater and dewatering. Where water is encountered, the dewatering method (sump pumping, wellpoints, deep wells), the pump capacity and standby pump, monitoring of the water level, and the discharge consent. Water pumped from a dig generally cannot be discharged to a watercourse without Environment Agency consent.
• Live carriageway or footpath. A Chapter 8 traffic management layout referenced in the RAMS, designated exclusion zones, signed pedestrian routes, and a managed plant-pedestrian interface. Street works also bring the New Roads and Street Works Act permit regime.
• Plant and pedestrian segregation. Being struck by plant is one of the leading killers in groundworks. The RAMS needs physical segregation where possible, a banksman where segregation is not possible, exclusion zones around slewing plant, reversing controls, and a rule on no one in the excavation while plant is working above.
• Adjacent structures and surcharge. Excavating next to an existing building, boundary wall or road needs the surcharge loading considered in the support design, monitoring for movement, and a stop-work trigger if movement is detected.
• Overhead lines. Where plant operates near overhead power lines, the voltage and owner identified, goalposts and exclusion zones to GS6, and the relevant distances marked on a site plan.
• Buried services strike emergency. A specific procedure for a gas, electricity, water or fibre strike: evacuate, no ignition sources for gas, call the utility's emergency line, and do not attempt repair. Generic "call 999" is not enough.

None of these are optional padding. Each represents a real factor that has caused groundworks fatalities. Inspectors look for them because they want to see you have assessed your specific dig, not pulled the same RAMS off the shelf from last month.

What inspectors actually pull you up on

The common findings on groundworks RAMS in 2025 and 2026 fall into a small handful of categories.

HSG47 named but not described. The single most common failing. The document mentions the guidance but never sets out the locate-mark-confirm-hand-dig system it requires.

Excavation support specified as an assumption, not a design. "Trench will be battered back" without a stated safe angle for the actual ground, or "trench boxes will be used" without a temporary works design for an excavation deep enough to need one.

No buried-services strike procedure. A RAMS that locates services but says nothing about what happens if one is struck anyway.

Plant and pedestrians not segregated. No banksman, no exclusion zone, no rule keeping operatives out of the dig while plant works above.

Confined space treated as ordinary excavation. A deep manhole or chamber entered without the Confined Spaces Regulations 1997 controls, gas monitoring or a rescue plan.

Generic PPE without standards, and out-of-date plant certificates. "Boots and gloves" is not PPE. And if the excavator's LOLER examination is overdue, you have a plant problem before you have a RAMS problem. Inspectors ask to see certificates.

How long should writing a proper groundworks RAMS take?

Done by hand from a blank sheet, including the site investigation review, the utility records, the temporary works coordination, looking up the right HSG47 controls and writing all eight sections to the standard above, a competent supervisor takes between 4 and 8 hours per RAMS. That is the realistic figure.

Done from a generic Word template, with the site-specific bits crossed out and the wrong things crossed in, it takes 30 minutes. That is also why those documents fail and why they get a buried operative when the real ground does not match the template.

Done with a tool that knows the canonical HSG47 and CDM 2015 controls, knows the groundworks defaults, takes your dig context as input, knows which modifiers apply (deep support, confined space, contaminated ground, live carriageway), and writes site-specific controls from your answers - 5 to 10 minutes including review and edit. The RAMS the AI produces is not generic because it does not work from a generic template; it works from the specific dig you described, applying the modifiers you ticked.

Practical workflow for getting it right every time

1. Get the ground and the services first. The site investigation tells you the ground type and water table. The utility records and a CAT scan tell you what is buried. Both come before you write a word of the RAMS, because the controls depend on them.
2. Decide the support strategy. Batter, box or shore - and if the dig is deep enough to need designed support, get the temporary works design done first. The RAMS references whichever route you take.
3. List your modifiers. Deep support? Buried services? Confined space? Contaminated ground? Groundwater? Live carriageway? Adjacent structures? Each adds a section to the RAMS.
4. Write the sequence first, controls second. Get the phases right - locate services, set exclusion zones, dig, support, work, backfill - then write the controls that flow from each phase.
5. Reference everything by document. Not "in line with HSE guidance". Specifically HSG47, CDM 2015, the Confined Spaces Regulations 1997 where they apply, Chapter 8 for street works. Inspectors notice the difference.
6. Brief it and sign it. A RAMS no one has read protects no one. Brief the gang before the dig starts, take the QR-code or paper sign-off, and keep the briefing record on site.
7. Update when the job changes. If the depth increases, the ground turns out different, a service is found that was not on the records, or a new modifier becomes applicable, the RAMS gets a dated revision and a rebrief.

The bottom line

A groundworks RAMS that survives scrutiny in 2026 is one that proves you have assessed this specific dig: the ground, the buried services under a properly described HSG47 system, the excavation support, the plant-pedestrian interface, and the modifiers that apply. It takes time done properly, and it is worth the time, because the alternative in groundworks is not a rejected tender - it is a collapse, a service strike, or a fatality.

If you are still writing groundworks RAMS by editing last month's Word document, you are losing days per month and producing documents that do not reflect the ground you are actually digging in. Trade-specific, modifier-aware RAMS generation is one of the few places where the technology genuinely earns its keep: a few minutes of focused input produces a document more site-specific, more current with HSG47 and CDM 2015, and more inspection-ready than any generic template will produce.