Most plastering and drylining work happens indoors, often in rooms that other trades or occupants are still using. The risks are rarely dramatic, but they build up: fine dust from mixing and sanding, wet plaster and cement on the skin, heavy boards handled many times a day, and short spells of work at height that happen all day long. HSE treats plasterboard handling and joint sanding as specific risks in their own right.
A plastering RAMS is where you show how you will deal with those risks on this job: how boards get to the floor where they are needed, what extraction goes on the sander, what access equipment is used for ceilings, and what you will do if the building is older than it looks. In buildings built or refurbished before 2000, that includes the chance of asbestos in textured coatings and boards.
Hazards a plastering and drylining RAMS should cover
Every job and site is different, but a plastering and drylining RAMS will usually need to deal with most of the following.
- Dust from mixing plaster, sanding joints and cutting boards
- Silica dust from cutting, chasing or drilling masonry backgrounds, renders and sand and cement
- Wet plaster and cement causing skin burns, dermatitis and eye injury
- Manual handling of heavy boards, bags and materials, especially overhead
- Falls from hop-ups, stepladders, trestles, towers and stilts
- Cuts from board knives, metal studs and beads, and injuries from fixing tools
- Asbestos in older textured coatings, boards and ceilings
- Slips, trips and shared work areas with other trades or occupants
What is in the AutoRAMS plastering and drylining library
AutoRAMS holds 30 plastering and drylining job types in 6 categories. Each job comes with a written sequence of operation, the hazards that go with it, who could be harmed, and the controls. You choose the jobs you are doing, tick what applies on site, and the RAMS is assembled around your answers.
For example, Skimming walls starts you off with a 15-step sequence of operation. The library also holds general hazards for the trade, including:
- Falls from hop-ups, trestles, podium steps, stilts and mobile towers
- Manual handling of plasterboard, bagged plaster, metal studs and track
- Gypsum, jointing compound and board dust from cutting, sanding and sweeping up
Your competent person should check the sequence against the actual building, particularly the route for getting boards in and the access equipment for ceilings.
Jobs you can choose from
- Drylining and partitions (11): Dot-and-dab plasterboard lining, Timber stud plasterboard partition, Metal stud partition installation and more
- Plastering (6): Skimming walls, Skimming ceilings, Float and set plastering and more
- Ceilings (5): Plasterboard ceiling installation, Overboarding existing ceiling, MF suspended ceiling system and more
- Rendering (4): External sand / cement render, Monocouche / through-coloured render, Pebble dash / dry dash render and more
- Decorative plasterwork (2): Ornamental plaster / cornice work, Coving installation
- Floors (2): Raised access flooring installation, Floor screed application
Legislation and standards a plastering and drylining RAMS often refers to
- Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015
- Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 (COSHH), for plaster, jointing compound and cement dust and wet products
- Work at Height Regulations 2005
- Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992
- Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012, for older buildings
- HSE EH40/2005 Workplace exposure limits
Your competent person should check which of these apply to your job and make sure the RAMS reflects them.
How to produce a plastering and drylining RAMS in minutes
- Pick the jobs. Choose plastering and drylining and the job types you are doing.
- Tick what is on site. Tell AutoRAMS about access, the public, services, working at height and so on.
- Add the site and the team. Name, address, dates and who is working.
- Generate and review. Download a branded PDF with your logo, then have your competent person check and approve it before use.
Frequently asked questions
Do plasterers need a RAMS for small domestic jobs?
Many clients and main contractors will ask for one however small the job, and it is good practice anyway. CDM 2015 still applies to domestic projects, with the client duties normally passing to the contractor. A short, accurate RAMS for a skim or a patch repair records how you will control dust, protect the occupants and reach ceilings safely.
Do I need RPE for sanding plasterboard joints?
HSE’s example shows that sanding taped joints with a sander connected to a suitable extraction unit keeps dust low enough that RPE is not normally needed for that task. Without extraction, dry sanding quickly produces high dust levels, so fit extraction rather than relying on a mask. If you do use a tight-fitting mask, it must be face-fit tested and the wearer clean-shaven.
Who checks a plastering RAMS before it is used?
Your own competent person should read and approve it against the actual building and programme. AutoRAMS gives you a thorough starting document, but it does not replace that check.