Guide

Site-specific risk assessment

A site specific risk assessment names the address, the people, and the thing that is different about this building. Changing the header on last month's PDF is not that assessment.

What “this site” changes

Regulation 3 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 requires a suitable and sufficient assessment of the risks. Sufficient means the real site: occupied rooms, concealed cables, how high the cable run is, and how long the drilling goes on. The worked example is a new circuit. The same library task in an empty shell is not the same job as a run above a stair in a house where someone sleeps.

No law requires a document called a RAMS. The duty is to assess risk under the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, regulation 3, and to plan the work safely.

Every hazard below is from the RAMSPack library and is marked draft – awaiting competent review. Change it for the site. It is not HSE approved.

Worked example: New circuit installation

Install a new final circuit from an existing consumer unit or distribution board to new points, including containment, terminations, inspection and test.

Order of work

  1. Confirm the supply capacity, the spare way, the cable route, and the load.
  2. Scan and inspect the route for buried cables, pipes, and asbestos. Mark known services.
  3. Isolate and lock off the board if the spare way or busbar will be exposed. Prove dead before any contact with conductors.
  4. Install containment and cable. Avoid weakening the structure, and fire-stop any penetration you make.
  5. Terminate the circuit, including the circuit protective conductor. Select the protective device for the cable and the load.
  6. Inspect and test the new circuit and the related parts of the installation before use.
  7. Label the circuit, hand over, and remove waste.

Electric shock while working in a live board or from striking a concealed cable

From the electrician library, task: New circuit installation. Who might be harmed: Operatives doing the work, other workers, occupiers and visitors

Before controls: 20 High. After controls: 5 Low. These scores are a prompt. Score the job yourself.

  • Isolate and prove dead before removing covers that expose live parts.
  • Use a cable detector and inspect the area before drilling or cutting. Detection does not guarantee a clear route, so drill with control.
  • If a cable is damaged, stop, isolate if it is safe, and make the area safe before repair.

Regulations that fit this hazard: Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974; Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999; Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015; Electricity at Work Regulations 1989; Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992 (as amended 2022); Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998; Health and Safety (First-Aid) Regulations 1981.

Breathing masonry dust while chasing or drilling

From the electrician library, task: New circuit installation. Who might be harmed: Operatives and occupiers

Before controls: 16 High. After controls: 8 Medium. These scores are a prompt. Score the job yourself.

  • Prefer a route that avoids heavy chasing.
  • Use on-tool extraction or water suppression. Clean with a vacuum suitable for the dust, not dry sweeping.
  • Keep occupiers out of the work area and ventilate where that does not spread dust.

Regulations that fit this hazard: Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974; Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999; Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015; Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992 (as amended 2022); Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998; Health and Safety (First-Aid) Regulations 1981; Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002.

Fall from a ladder or hop-up while running cable at height

From the electrician library, task: New circuit installation. Who might be harmed: Operatives

Before controls: 12 Medium. After controls: 4 Low. These scores are a prompt. Score the job yourself.

  • Avoid work at height where the route can be changed.
  • Use a podium or other platform with guard rails where reasonably practicable. A ladder is for short-duration, light work only, footed or tied, on a firm surface.
  • Do not overreach. Move the platform.

Regulations that fit this hazard: Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974; Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999; Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015; Electricity at Work Regulations 1989; Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992 (as amended 2022); Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998; Health and Safety (First-Aid) Regulations 1981; Work at Height Regulations 2005.

Noise and hand-arm vibration from drilling

From the electrician library, task: New circuit installation. Who might be harmed: Operatives

Before controls: 9 Medium. After controls: 4 Low. These scores are a prompt. Score the job yourself.

  • Choose a lower-vibration tool and a sharp bit. Limit trigger time and rotate the task.
  • Wear hearing protection where the noise assessment requires it.
  • Report numbness or tingling. Do not treat symptoms as normal.

Regulations that fit this hazard: Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974; Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999; Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015; Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992 (as amended 2022); Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998; Health and Safety (First-Aid) Regulations 1981; Control of Noise at Work Regulations 2005; Control of Vibration at Work Regulations 2005.

Generate a new-circuit RAMS for this site

Related pages

Site-specific risk assessment · RAMSPack