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Health & safety

Method Statement Template

A method statement says how the work will actually be done, step by step, safely. Paired with a risk assessment it becomes RAMS, which is what a principal contractor or facilities manager means when they ask for your paperwork before you start.

Free, no signup, no email Prints to A4 Written for UK cleaning businesses
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Method Statement

Submit with the site-specific risk assessment. Together these form your RAMS.

Site / project
Scope of works
Contractor
Prepared by
Date
Version
Principal contractor / client
Planned dates

Project and site information

  • Client and site address stated
  • Scope of works described specifically, not generically
  • Planned start and completion dates
  • Working hours agreed, including out of hours or night work
  • Site contact and contractor contact named with phone numbers
  • Access arrangements: entry, keys, permits, induction
  • Areas in and out of scope clearly stated
  • Whether the building will be occupied during the work

People and competence

  • Number of operatives on site
  • Supervisor named and their contact given
  • Training and competence relevant to the work recorded
  • Certificates available on request: PAT, IPAF, CSCS, DBS where relevant
  • Site induction arrangements confirmed
  • Sub-contractors named, if any, and their RAMS referenced

Equipment and substances

  • Every item of equipment to be used listed
  • Inspection and PAT testing status confirmed and in date
  • Power requirements confirmed, including 110V where required
  • Every chemical listed, with COSHH assessments attached
  • Safety data sheets available on site
  • Access equipment specified: steps, towers, MEWP, and who is trained on it
  • Waste arrangements: which skip, or waste transfer note if removing

Sequence of work

Numbered, in order, and specific. This is the part a principal contractor actually reads.

  • Arrival, sign in and induction
  • Site inspection before starting; report any new hazard before work begins
  • Set up exclusion zone and signage
  • Isolate services if required, under permit
  • Set out equipment and chemicals; check PPE
  • Carry out the work in the stated sequence, area by area
  • Maintain segregation from occupants and other trades throughout
  • Remove waste to the agreed point progressively, not at the end
  • Clean down and remove equipment
  • Final inspection and handover
  • Sign out and report any incident or defect

Control measures and PPE

  • Hazards identified in the accompanying risk assessment, referenced not repeated
  • PPE specified for each stage of the work
  • Segregation from the public and other trades described
  • Signage and barriers specified
  • Ventilation arrangements where chemicals or dust are involved
  • Working at height controls stated
  • Manual handling controls stated
  • Noise and vibration controls where applicable
  • Housekeeping: routes kept clear throughout

Emergency arrangements

  • First aid provision and the nearest first aider
  • Nearest A&E and the route to it
  • Accident, incident and near-miss reporting procedure
  • Fire procedure, alarm and assembly point
  • Spill procedure and the location of the spill kit
  • Emergency stop and isolation points
  • Who has authority to stop the work, and the circumstances in which they must

Sign-off

  • Prepared by, with name, role, signature and date
  • Reviewed and accepted by the client or principal contractor
  • Briefed to every operative before work starts
  • Operative briefing signatures collected and retained
  • Version number recorded and superseded versions withdrawn

A method statement must be briefed to the people doing the work, and the briefing recorded. An unbriefed document controls nothing and will be treated as evidence of exactly that.

Where the work changes on site, the method statement is revised and re-briefed rather than worked around.

Free to print, copy and use commercially, including with your own clients and staff. From CleanFlo, cleaning business software for UK companies.

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CleanFlo builds the risk assessment on a 5×5 and the method statement alongside it, both against the site they belong to, both printing to A4. Being able to submit within a day of being asked is what wins commercial work.

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What RAMS actually means

RAMS is shorthand for a risk assessment and a method statement submitted together. It is not a single document, and it is not a form: it is two documents that answer two different questions.

The risk assessment answers what could go wrong and how bad would it be. The method statement answers how will the work be done so that it does not. A principal contractor reading them together is checking that the sequence described in the second actually controls the hazards identified in the first.

That is why the commonest rejection is not a missing document but an inconsistent pair: a risk assessment identifying work at height, and a method statement that never mentions how anyone gets up there.

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Why generic method statements get rejected

A method statement bought as a generic template and submitted unchanged is rejected routinely, and reasonably. It describes no particular site, so it demonstrates that nobody has looked at this one.

The parts that must be specific are the ones a reviewer checks first: the scope, the sequence, the access arrangements, the equipment list, the chemicals, and the emergency arrangements including the nearest A&E. A statement listing equipment you are not bringing, or chemicals you no longer use, is worse than none, because it shows the document is not maintained.

Use this template as the structure. Then walk the site, and write the sequence you will actually follow there.

The briefing is the part that gets missed

A method statement that has been written, submitted and accepted, but never briefed to the cleaners doing the work, controls nothing. It is also, in an investigation, evidence that the employer knew the safe sequence and did not communicate it.

Brief it before the work starts, record who was briefed, and keep the signatures. On a multi-visit contract, re-brief when the document changes and when new staff join the site.

This is the single most common gap between paperwork and practice in cleaning, and it is the one that turns a compliance file into a liability rather than a defence.

What to submit with it

  • The site-specific risk assessment. The other half of RAMS.
  • COSHH assessments for every chemical on the equipment list.
  • Public and employer's liability insurance certificates.
  • Training and competence records for the operatives named.
  • Equipment inspection and PAT records where requested.
  • Waste carrier registration, if you are removing waste from site yourself.

Holding all of these in one place, current, is what lets a cleaning company respond to a tender request the same day. It is one of the few places in this trade where administration is a direct commercial advantage rather than an overhead.

Frequently asked questions

01 What is a method statement in cleaning?
A document setting out how a cleaning job will be carried out safely: the scope, the people, the equipment and chemicals, the step-by-step sequence of work, the control measures and PPE at each stage, and the emergency arrangements. Submitted with a risk assessment it forms RAMS.
02 What is the difference between RAMS and a method statement?
The method statement is one half of RAMS. RAMS means a risk assessment and method statement submitted together: the assessment identifies and rates the hazards, the method statement describes the safe sequence of work that controls them. When a client asks for RAMS they usually expect both in one submission.
03 Do I need a method statement for domestic cleaning?
Rarely for routine domestic work in an occupied home. They are normally required for commercial contracts, construction and builders cleans, work at height, work involving hazardous substances beyond ordinary cleaning chemicals, and any site operating under CDM regulations. Many commercial clients ask for one regardless of the level of risk.
04 Who should write a method statement?
Someone competent who understands both the work and the hazards, usually the owner or a supervisor who has walked the site. It should then be reviewed and accepted by the client or principal contractor, and briefed to every operative before work starts, with the briefing recorded.
05 How long is a method statement valid?
Until the work or the site changes. It is version-controlled rather than time-limited: if the sequence, the equipment, the chemicals or the people change, it is revised, re-issued and re-briefed, and the superseded version withdrawn so nobody works to it by mistake.

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