What a cleaning RAMS actually has to cover
Cleaning is the trade most often dismissed as low-risk, and the generic "wear gloves" RAMS that comes from that is exactly what reviewers reject. The real hazards are specific and serious: COSHH exposure from cleaning chemicals, slips on wet floors (the most common cause of major injury in this work), work at height for high-level and external cleaning, manual handling of equipment and waste, and lone or out-of-hours working in empty buildings. A builders/sparkle clean on a construction handover adds construction dust and sharps on top.
More detail
Build the RAMS from the actual job — builders clean, routine commercial clean, external windows, high-level, jet washing — and the right hazards follow. A builders clean is a different document from an occupied-office clean, and reviewers can tell when one has been copied onto the other.
COSHH and chemicals: the line reviewers read first
Every cleaning product is a substance hazardous to health, so the RAMS needs a COSHH assessment backed by the safety data sheet for each one — not a single line of generic PPE. The non-negotiables: never mix products (bleach and acidic cleaners release toxic chlorine gas), don't decant into unlabelled containers, dilute to the manufacturer's rate, ventilate enclosed spaces like toilets and plant rooms, and specify the gloves and eye/respiratory protection the SDS calls for.
Slips, height and working alone
Wet floors need signage and a dry route kept open for anyone passing through — in an occupied building that segregation is what protects the public. High-level cleaning means a proper access method (MEWP, tower or extendable pole), never standing on furniture or a wobbling stepladder, and external window cleaning at height needs the same justification as any work at height. Out-of-hours cleaning in an empty building is lone working: put a check-in arrangement and a means of raising the alarm in the RAMS.
Cleaning RAMS FAQs
Does cleaning really need a risk assessment?
Yes — and reviewers reject generic ones. Cleaning carries genuine COSHH exposure, the highest slip-injury rate of any activity, work at height, and lone working. A good cleaning RAMS is specific about chemicals, wet floors and access, not a single PPE line.
Can we mix cleaning chemicals to save time?
No — never. Mixing bleach with an acidic cleaner (like many limescale removers) releases toxic chlorine gas, and other combinations are just as dangerous. The RAMS should state that products are used only as supplied, at the dilution on the safety data sheet.
Is a builders clean the same as a normal clean?
No. A post-construction builders/sparkle clean adds construction dust (often containing silica), sharps and debris, and usually work at height — so it needs its own RAMS with RPE, a sharps procedure and an access method, not an office-cleaning template.
Is there a cleaning report in the builder?
The cleaning templates are in the library now; a configurable builder report is on the way. Open any cleaning template and use "Request this RAMS" to be told when it's live. Free during early access.