If you've ever tendered for a commercial cleaning contract and been asked to provide your "RAMS", you may have scrambled to work out what that means. It's one of those acronyms that gets thrown around as if everyone knows it — but in practice, many small and medium cleaning businesses have never produced one, and lose contracts as a result.
RAMS stands for Risk Assessment and Method Statement. The two documents are usually combined into a single file and submitted together — hence "RAMS" rather than "RA and MS". This guide explains what each part covers, when you're likely to be asked for one, and walks through a complete worked example for a standard commercial office cleaning contract.
What is a RAMS document?
A RAMS document combines two distinct but related pieces of health and safety documentation into a single submission:
Risk Assessment
Identifies what could go wrong during the work — the hazards — and evaluates how likely harm is and how severe it would be. For each hazard, it records who is at risk and what controls are in place to reduce that risk to an acceptable level.
The risk assessment answers the question: what are the dangers, and how are we managing them?
Method Statement
Describes how the work will be carried out, step by step, in a way that incorporates the controls identified in the risk assessment. It's a safe system of work written down — a sequential description of how your operatives will approach the task safely.
The method statement answers the question: exactly how will we do this work without causing harm?
Together, they demonstrate to a client, principal contractor, or facilities manager that you have thought through the safety of your work before you start — not just in theory, but in specific, practical terms for their site and their contract.
It's important to understand what a RAMS is not. It's not a cleaning schedule. It's not a quotation. It's not a COSHH assessment (though a good RAMS will reference your COSHH assessments for any chemicals used). It's specifically about health and safety — about identifying what could go wrong and demonstrating that you have a plan to prevent it.
When do cleaning businesses need a RAMS?
A RAMS is not a general legal requirement in the same way as a COSHH assessment. There is no single regulation that says every cleaning business must have one. However, several things make RAMS documentation effectively essential for any cleaning business with commercial ambitions:
- Commercial office cleaning contracts. Almost universally required, particularly if the premises have any public or third-party access.
- Schools and educational facilities. Local authorities and multi-academy trusts typically require RAMS before any contractor sets foot on site. Safeguarding and duty of care considerations make procurement teams particularly thorough.
- NHS and healthcare settings. All contractors must demonstrate compliance with infection control and health and safety requirements. A RAMS is minimum expectation.
- Local authority and council contracts. Public procurement processes at any level of government will require a RAMS as part of the supplier qualification process.
- Subcontracting work. If you are working as a subcontractor to a principal contractor on any site, the principal contractor's CDM (Construction Design and Management) obligations effectively require RAMS documentation from all subcontractors.
- High-rise or access cleaning. Any work involving rope access, platforms, cherry pickers, or working at significant height will require a RAMS — this is non-negotiable.
- Events cleaning. Temporary venues, festivals, and event spaces require contractor documentation before access is permitted.
- Post-construction cleans. Works closely with construction and therefore typically subject to CDM requirements, meaning RAMS documentation is standard.
The broader point is this: the commercial cleaning market has moved. Five years ago, a RAMS was a document large contractors produced. Today, even a one-person cleaning business pitching to a single commercial client is likely to be asked for one. Having a RAMS template that you can customise per site is no longer a nice-to-have — it's a commercial necessity.
Part 1: The Risk Assessment
The risk assessment section of your RAMS identifies every significant hazard associated with the cleaning work on a specific site, evaluates the level of risk, and records the controls you will use to manage it. The standard format uses a table with these columns:
Hazard | Who's at risk | Likelihood (1–3) | Severity (1–3) | Risk rating | Controls | Residual risk
The risk rating is calculated the same way as in a standalone risk assessment: Likelihood × Severity = Risk (1–9). After you've applied your controls, you record the residual risk — how much risk remains with the controls in place. The goal is to reduce every hazard to Low residual risk where reasonably practicable.
The table below covers the hazards that appear in most cleaning contracts. You won't need all of these for every job — a domestic end-of-tenancy clean has different hazards to a hospital contract — but this represents the full picture for standard commercial and public-sector work.
| Hazard | Who's at risk | Controls |
|---|---|---|
| Wet or slippery floors (mopping, spills) | Public, client staff, operatives | Wet floor signs at all access points; mop one section at a time keeping adjacent section dry; schedule work outside core hours where possible; operatives wear non-slip footwear |
| Chemical exposure (cleaning products) | Operatives (primary); public and client staff (secondary — residual fumes, contact with treated surfaces) | COSHH assessments in place for all products; operatives trained in SDS requirements; PPE worn per COSHH assessment; ventilate treated areas; dilute products per label; never mix chemicals |
| Manual handling (moving furniture, lifting equipment) | Operatives | Manual handling training completed; correct technique applied (bent knees, straight back); team lift for items over 25 kg; request client keeps access routes clear; use trolley for equipment where available |
| Working at height (step stools, ladders, platform steps) | Operatives | Use correct equipment for task — step stool for low-level, platform steps for medium, scaffolding tower or MEWP for significant height; spotter present for any ladder use; equipment inspected before use; permit-to-work for high-risk height work |
| Electrical hazards (cleaning near sockets, electrical equipment) | Operatives | Check area before work begins; avoid using water-based products near sockets or electrical panels; isolate power supply where required; do not clean equipment that is switched on; PAT-tested cleaning equipment only |
| Slips, trips and falls (trailing cables, cleaning equipment in walkways) | Operatives, public, client staff | Cable management for vacuum cleaners and polishers; equipment stored to side of walkways not across them; signage at equipment locations; operatives briefed on keeping routes clear |
| Contact with sharps or biological hazards (healthcare, some commercial settings) | Operatives | Heavy-duty gloves for bin emptying in healthcare settings; sharps bin on site; operatives trained in sharps injury procedure; any needle-stick injury reported immediately and medical advice sought; incident recorded |
| Lone working | Operative | Check-in protocol: operative contacts supervisor at start and end of shift; emergency contact number held by operative; lone working risk assessed per site; out-of-hours work on sites with no other staff requires formal lone working agreement |
When completing a risk assessment for a specific contract, add any site-specific hazards you identify during a pre-work site visit or induction. A ground-floor office has different hazards to a multi-storey building with a service lift. A school kitchen has different hazards to a school corridor. The generic list above is a starting point, not a finished assessment.
Part 2: The Method Statement
The method statement is a step-by-step account of how the cleaning work will be carried out safely. It is not a cleaning specification or a task list — it is a safe system of work written in sequence. A client reading your method statement should be able to visualise exactly how your operatives will work on their site, and be confident that safety has been built into each step.
A standard method statement for cleaning work follows this structure:
The method statement should be specific to each site. A generic template is useful as a starting point, but if your method statement says "clean as per usual procedure" it will be rejected by any serious procurement team. Mention the site by name, reference the specific tasks in scope, and note any site-specific requirements (e.g. "no entry to server room", "use client's own chemicals in kitchen area", "operatives must have a valid DBS check").
Worked example: RAMS for a commercial office clean
The following is a complete worked RAMS for a standard commercial office cleaning contract. This is the level of detail expected by a typical facilities management company or commercial landlord. Adapt the details for your own contract.
RAMS — Completed Example
Writing your own RAMS: what to include
A complete RAMS document for a cleaning contract should contain the following sections. The depth of each section should be proportionate to the risk — a simple domestic window-cleaning round needs a shorter RAMS than a hospital deep clean — but all sections should be present.
- Company details: business name, registered address, contact name and number, public liability insurance details (insurer, policy number, limit of indemnity)
- Contract and project details: client name, site address, scope of work (what is and isn't included), contract start date and frequency, review date
- Risk assessment table: all identified hazards, who is at risk, likelihood and severity ratings, risk score, controls, residual risk
- PPE requirements: list every item of PPE required and which tasks it applies to — don't just list "gloves", specify "disposable nitrile gloves for all chemical use"
- Equipment list: cleaning machines, ladders, and significant equipment to be used on site; note PAT testing status for any electrical equipment
- Training and competency: confirm that operatives are trained in COSHH awareness, manual handling, and any task-specific competencies (ladder safety, working at height); include training record reference if requested
- Emergency procedures: site emergency contact number, nearest hospital, first aid provision, what to do in case of chemical spill, fire, medical emergency, or building evacuation
- Method statement: step-by-step description of how the work will be carried out safely, specific to this site and contract
- Review and signatures: date of assessment, assessed by (name and role), client review and sign-off section
RAMS template and Cadi
Writing a RAMS from scratch for every new contract is time-consuming, particularly when you're also preparing a quotation, checking availability, and managing existing clients. The practical solution is a well-structured template that you customise per contract — one that already has the standard hazards, controls, and method statement structure in place, leaving you to add the site-specific details.
A good RAMS template for cleaning businesses should cover the three most common contract types separately, because the hazards and method differ enough that a single generic template doesn't serve all three well:
- Commercial office cleaning — standard hazards, office-hours or out-of-hours variants
- Educational settings — additional safeguarding considerations, DBS requirements, term-time scheduling notes
- Exterior cleaning — working at height, access equipment, weather-dependent working, public exclusion zones
Having a professional RAMS document ready to send at tender stage — not scrambled together the night before a deadline — sends a strong signal to commercial clients. It says that you take safety seriously, that you're organised, and that you've done this before. In markets where multiple cleaning businesses are quoting on the same contract, professional documentation is one of the clearest differentiators between businesses that win commercial work consistently and those that don't.