Laing O’Rourke leads the way on digital safety

To tackle the long-standing issues of inefficiency, risk and non-compliance in traditional RAMS (risk assessment method statement) briefings, Laing O’Rourke developed e-RAMS, a custom-built digital RAMS briefing register app. Created in-house using Microsoft Power Apps, the solution was deployed in partnership with subsidiaries Expanded Structures, Expanded Geotechnical, Crown House Technologies and Vetter.

Traditional RAMS processes were manual, paper-heavy and vulnerable to loss and error. Workers might miss critical safety updates, while site managers had limited visibility of who had been briefed - posing safety and compliance risks, and making audits laborious. Paper signatures were often outdated, and RAMS matrices could be a week behind.

The e-RAMS solution offers real-time visibility, secure digital sign-offs, and live tracking of worker briefings through seamless integration with Asite, Azure SQL and Power BI. A green/amber traffic light system visually flags outdated or missing sign-offs - an intuitive cue especially useful for non-English speakers. The system connects directly to site turnstiles, automatically populating the RAMS matrix with new personnel for instant compliance tracking.

The app cuts administrative tasks dramatically. Across a project with 800 personnel, e-RAMS cut administrative time for site managers by more than 80%, saving eight hours weekly or 416 hours annually, which equals £16,640 saved per site over a year.