Landscaping RAMS template

Landscaping RAMS should explain what the team will do on this site, in what order, and how they will protect workers, occupants and the public. A planting and lawn job, a garden redesign with hard paving, and grounds maintenance beside a public path are different risk assessments. The work may involve buried services, power tools, vehicles, chemicals, manual handling, unstable ground and changing weather. A generic list of hazards does not show that the actual project has been made safe.

This free template is a starting form for landscaping work in Great Britain. Complete it for the site and agreed scope. It is not a permission to excavate, a pesticide authorisation, a tree-work plan, an ecological assessment or a design approval. Specialist tasks need competent assessment and separate controls. Northern Ireland requires its own regulatory check. Review the RAMS when the work area, method, weather, public access or ground conditions change.

Define the job before choosing controls

Write down the site address, client, dates, supervisor, workers, subcontractors and who controls the area. State whether the work is private domestic, communal, roadside, commercial or construction-site work. List the activities: clearance, stripping turf, soil preparation, planting, paving, fencing, irrigation, mowing, hedge cutting, spraying, deliveries or waste removal. Identify who owns each specialist activity and the point at which one contractor hands over to another.

Walk the site before work starts. Mark gates, slopes, water, overhead and buried services, public routes, buildings, boundary walls, fragile surfaces, trees to retain, wildlife constraints and the places where plant and waste can be stored. Obtain service information and use an appropriate locating method before disturbing ground. HSE's underground-services guidance frames excavation around planning, locating and safe digging; a client saying “there are no cables” is not enough evidence. Small landscaping trenches can still strike services or undermine a shallow garden wall.

Agree deliveries, vehicle movements and pedestrian separation. A wheelbarrow route through a public footpath, a reversing truck at a school or a compact excavator beside a tenant entrance all need different arrangements. Coordinate work times, noise and access with the client and neighbours where the site requires it. The RAMS should identify emergency vehicle access and the first-aid/fire arrangements before any fencing blocks routes.

Core hazards and what the assessment should decide

Ground disturbance. State where digging will take place and how the team verified underground services. Record the location method, markings and permit or client information where relevant. Assess trench depth, ground stability, adjacent structures and water. Do not treat all shallow work as safe; HSE warns that garden and boundary walls can have shallow foundations and be undermined by small trenches: construction excavation guidance. If an unexpected service or contaminated material is exposed, stop, secure the area and seek the appropriate specialist advice.

Machinery and powered hand tools. Name the actual machine: mower, brushcutter, hedge trimmer, rotavator, chipper, compact loader or excavator. Record operator competence, pre-use inspection, guarding, attachments, maintenance, exclusion zones and refuelling/charging controls. Check projected debris, kickback, entanglement and the likelihood of children or passers-by entering the work area. HSE's machinery and hand-tool guidance identifies accidents with brushcutters and chippers as risks requiring assessment and control. A generic “trained staff use plant” line is not enough for a job beside a footpath.

Noise and vibration. Estimate the actual use of powered tools across the day, including combinations of mower, strimmer and hedge trimmer. HSE's amenity horticulture vibration guidance stresses realistic exposure estimates. Select lower-vibration equipment where possible, maintain it and schedule work to manage exposure. Do not copy a universal safe-use time from another machine or site; use the equipment and task data.

Manual handling. Plants, soil, slabs, sleepers, bags of aggregate and waste differ in weight, shape and grip. Plan unloading near the work area, mechanical help, team handling and storage to reduce repeated carrying. Check the route and ground conditions; a heavy load carried over an uneven garden or up steps adds risk. Use HSE's manual-handling principles to avoid hazardous handling where reasonably practicable and reduce the remaining risk.

Pesticides and other substances. First ask whether chemical treatment is needed; a landscaping RAMS must not assume every job involves spraying. For an authorised plant protection product, check the exact approval, label, target, equipment, weather, drift risk, nearby people, water and drainage. HSE explains that professional-use pesticides require appropriate training and must be used within label conditions. Record the competent applicator and any certificate or qualification applicable to the operation. Do not write “PA1/PA6 required for all landscaping”; the qualification depends on the product and application method. Maintain a separate COSHH or pesticide assessment where needed. Fertilisers, fuel, cement and adhesives also require substance-specific controls and spill arrangements.

Tree and aerial work. Light pruning and planting are not the same as felling, climbing or chainsaw work. Where tree work is in scope, define the work, exclusion and emergency arrangements separately. HSE's chainsaw guidance covers training and competence. Do not allow an ordinary landscaping template to stand in for an aerial tree-work method, rescue plan or specialist assessment. If the tree or branch condition is uncertain, hold that part of the work pending competent assessment.

Public, residents and pets. Set a boundary that matches the hazard, not simply a strip of tape. Keep bystanders clear of thrown stones from strimming, moving equipment, open holes, chemicals and delivery vehicles. Provide a managed route if a public or resident path must stay open. Remove temporary hazards or make them secure at the end of each shift. Tell the client when re-entry is safe after chemical use according to the product label and site assessment, not a made-up universal interval.

Weather and environmental conditions. Rain can change ground stability, traction and pesticide drift or runoff. Heat and sun affect outdoor workers. Strong wind can make spraying, lifting large materials or working near trees unsafe. Record who monitors the conditions and what triggers a pause. Assess runoff, drains, watercourses, protected trees and waste disposal for the site; regulatory permissions and ecological constraints should be checked with the responsible body or competent adviser where relevant.

Copy-and-complete landscaping RAMS worksheet

Complete the form before mobilising. Add activity rows until every actual task is represented. Write “not applicable” with a reason where a prompt does not apply.

Method statement sequence: (1) Review the survey and scope with the crew. (2) Agree access, deliveries, exclusion and emergency plans. (3) Verify service information and mark no-dig or hand-dig areas. (4) Inspect tools and plant; check operator competence. (5) Prepare and clear the work area under the relevant controls. (6) Carry out digging, installation, planting and finishing in the agreed sequence. (7) Reassess after discoveries or weather changes. (8) Inspect and reinstate routes, remove waste and hand the site back. Write the actual sequence where this differs.

Briefing and change control: record author, reviewer, version, date, workers briefed and signatures. Note the trigger for a revised RAMS: unmarked service, different ground, new machine, public access change, unexpected tree condition, change in pesticide product or adverse weather. Stop the affected activity until a competent person agrees the new method. Keep the superseded version with the record so the change can be understood later.

Example: planting beside a shared footpath

A contractor is planting shrubs and installing edging beside the only pedestrian route to a block of flats. The team should mark the service zone before digging, plan a pedestrian diversion or controlled passage, confine soil and tools to a secure area and schedule deliveries away from peak entry times. If a buried cable appears where the edging trench was planned, work in that spot stops; the supervisor reassesses the route and excavation method. Merely telling workers to “be careful” does not close the hazard. If the team later decides to use a brushcutter for clearance, the RAMS needs an exclusion zone and public-protection method appropriate to thrown debris.

Checking the finished document

Ask whether another competent supervisor could run the work from the document and site briefing. They should know the exact tasks, equipment, services, restricted areas, people affected, emergency arrangements and stop-work points. Vague controls such as “wear PPE”, “use trained staff” and “work safely” need replacement with decisions tied to the actual work. Retain records of specialist permissions and briefings where needed, and inspect the controls while the work is under way.

For wider context, link to the existing landscaping compliance page and general RAMS guide. A link to the proposed risk assessment software money page is appropriate only after canonical route and implementation review. CTA: keep the approved RAMS and supporting evidence together in the system your team uses; verify any Complys feature claim against the current product before publication. No price, trial, automation or certification promise is made here.

Source, claim and writer-side QA register

Intent/cannibalisation: this page is a usable landscaping RAMS worksheet. The live landscaping page is a broader commercial landing page, while groundworks RAMS addresses excavation-heavy civil work. No exact indexed landscaping RAMS template owner was found on observed Complys hosts on 5 October 2026; current repo and unpublished-content checks remain a publication gate. Product truth: no unverified live capability or commercial claim. Internal links: landscaping landing page, general RAMS, money page after verification. Writer-side QA: scoped copy, source, jurisdiction, form utility and collision check completed. Independent trade, legal, product and canonical QA is required before publication.