Roofing RAMS: Risk Assessment for Working on Roofs
Falls from height remain the single biggest cause of death in UK construction, and roof work concentrates that risk. Principal contractors know it, HSE inspectors know it, and roofing RAMS get scrutinised harder than almost any other trade's. A roofing risk assessment and method statement that glosses over fall prevention will be rejected — and rightly so.
This guide covers what your roofing RAMS must address: the Work at Height Regulations hierarchy, fragile surfaces, edge protection, access, and material handling at height. It's written for roofers, but it applies to any trade that ends up on a roof.
The legal foundation: Work at Height Regulations 2005
Roof work is work at height, so it's governed by the Work at Height Regulations 2005 (SI 2005/735) on top of the general risk assessment duty under Regulation 3 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999.
Regulation 6 of the Work at Height Regulations sets out a clear hierarchy your RAMS must follow, in order:
- Avoid. Regulation 6(2): "Every employer shall ensure that work is not carried out at height where it is reasonably practicable to carry out the work safely otherwise than at height." Can any of the work be done from the ground, or off the roof?
- Prevent falls. Regulation 6(3): where work is carried out at height, the employer must "take suitable and sufficient measures to prevent, so far as is reasonably practicable, any person falling a distance liable to cause personal injury." This means collective protection first — guardrails, scaffolds, working platforms.
- Minimise the distance and consequences. Regulation 6(5)(a): where falls can't be prevented, provide equipment "to minimise the distance and consequences" of a fall — nets, airbags, or, as a last resort, personal fall-arrest systems.
A roofing RAMS that jumps straight to "operatives will wear a harness" has skipped the hierarchy. Personal fall-arrest is at the bottom of the list, not the top. Your assessment needs to show you considered avoidance and collective prevention first.
This is also the worked-example heart of any working at height risk assessment — roof work is the highest-stakes version of it.
Fragile surfaces: the roofer's specific killer
Roof work has a hazard most trades never face: fragile surfaces. Roof lights, fibre-cement and asbestos-cement sheets, corroded metal sheeting, and old skylights can give way under a person's weight without warning. HSE data consistently shows falls through fragile roofs among the most common fatal roof-work incidents.
Your RAMS must specifically address fragile surfaces:
- Identify them. State which surfaces on this roof are or may be fragile, based on the survey. Don't assume — old industrial roofs and any roof with rooflights need explicit assessment.
- Control access to them. Stagings, crawling boards, or platforms that spread the load and never put a foot directly on a fragile surface.
- Cover or guard rooflights. Either cover to a load-bearing standard or guard the perimeter.
- Assume fragility where unknown. If you can't confirm a surface is non-fragile, treat it as fragile.
What a roofing RAMS must cover
Beyond the standard RAMS sections, a roofing assessment needs trade-specific detail in each of these areas:
| Area | What your RAMS must specify |
|---|---|
| Access | How operatives get onto and off the roof — independent scaffold with platform at eaves level, tower, or MEWP. If a roof ladder is used, how it's secured (hooked over the ridge, not resting on tiles). |
| Edge protection | Collective protection at all open edges — guardrails at a suitable height with mid-rail and toe board. State how gable ends and valleys are protected. |
| Fragile surfaces | Identification and controls (see above). |
| Fall prevention vs arrest | Show the hierarchy: collective measures first; personal fall-arrest only where prevention isn't reasonably practicable, with defined anchor points and rescue plan. |
| Material handling at height | How materials reach the roof (hoist, telehandler), how they're distributed to avoid point-loading, and stacking limits. |
| Weather | Stop-work thresholds for wind, ice, and lightning; making partial work safe before leaving the roof. |
| Public and others below | Exclusion zones, debris netting, and protection for anyone beneath the work. |
| Emergency and rescue | First aid, nearest A&E, and — critically where fall-arrest is used — a rescue plan for a suspended casualty. |
Method statement: the work sequence
The method statement turns those controls into an ordered plan. A roofing method statement should walk through, in sequence:
- Site setup — scaffold erection and inspection, exclusion zones, welfare.
- Access verification — confirm platforms, edge protection, and ladder securing before anyone goes up.
- Strip-out (if re-roofing) — controlled removal, debris handling, fragile-surface controls.
- The roofing work itself — in stages, with controls stated at each stage.
- Material handling — how each load reaches the roof and is distributed.
- Making safe at end of each shift — temporary weatherproofing, securing loose materials.
- Strike-down — scaffold removal, site clearance, final inspection.
For trade-by-trade method statement structure, see our method statement examples by trade guide.
A note on competence
Roof work RAMS should evidence competence: relevant CSCS/roofing cards, IPAF for MEWP operation, PASMA for tower assembly, and training in the specific access and fall-protection systems used. A risk assessment that names competent, trained operatives carries far more weight than one that assumes anyone can do the work safely.
Frequently asked questions
Is a risk assessment legally required for roof work?
Yes. Roof work is work at height, so it falls under both the general risk assessment duty (Regulation 3 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999) and the Work at Height Regulations 2005. Any employer or self-employed person carrying out roof work that could affect themselves or others must assess the risks. On a construction site, the principal contractor will require your RAMS before you start.
What's the most important thing in a roofing risk assessment?
Following the Work at Height Regulations hierarchy in Regulation 6: avoid working at height where reasonably practicable, then prevent falls using collective measures (guardrails, platforms), and only then minimise the consequences of a fall (nets, fall-arrest). Plus explicit treatment of fragile surfaces. Assessments that lead with "operatives will wear harnesses" have inverted the hierarchy and tend to be rejected.
Do I need a harness for all roof work?
Not necessarily — and reaching for a harness first is the wrong approach. The Work at Height Regulations require you to prevent falls with collective measures (like edge protection and working platforms) before relying on personal fall-arrest. A harness is a last-resort control, used where fall prevention isn't reasonably practicable, and it requires anchor points and a rescue plan to be in place.
What counts as a fragile roof surface?
Surfaces that may not safely bear a person's weight — including fibre-cement and asbestos-cement sheets, rooflights and skylights, corroded metal sheeting, glass, and some old or deteriorated materials. HSE guidance is to treat any surface as fragile unless it's been confirmed otherwise. Falls through fragile surfaces are among the most common causes of fatal roof-work injuries.
The bottom line
Roofing RAMS get scrutinised because roof work kills more people than almost any other construction activity. Get the Work at Height Regulations hierarchy right, address fragile surfaces head-on, lead with collective fall prevention, and build it all into a clear work sequence — that's a roofing RAMS that gets accepted and, more importantly, keeps people off the ground.
Writing site-specific roofing RAMS for every job is exactly the kind of paperwork TradeRAMS is built to speed up — guided questions about your roof, access and hazards, producing a document that reflects the actual work. Join the waitlist for early access.