Guide
Toolbox talk template
A toolbox talk is a short conversation about the hazard in front of the crew today. This template is a one-page sheet for the topic, the controls, and the names of people who heard it.
How to use the sheet
Pick one hazard from the job, not ten. Read the controls you have already written in the RAMS, and ask who is doing each one today. If the site has changed, stop and change the RAMS. A signed sheet is not evidence that the work was safe.
The download asks for an email so we can send the file. The marketing box is unticked. Leave it unticked and the file still downloads. A library of talks, with the controls taken from the hazard library, is on the toolbox talks page.
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.
Electric shock or burns from live conductors
From the electrician library, task: Consumer unit replacement. 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.
- Treat the installation as live until it is proved dead.
- Isolate, lock off, and prove dead. Prove the voltage indicator before and after the test.
- Do not work live. Live work is permitted under the Electricity at Work Regulations 1989 only where it can be justified and suitable precautions are in place. This task is planned as dead work.
- Use insulated tools and keep the work area dry.
- If the supply cannot be isolated, stop and reassess. Do not improvise.
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); Health and Safety (First-Aid) Regulations 1981.
Draft the consumer unit RAMS this talk belongs to