A scaffolding company has been fined after a trainee scaffolder died in a 5m fall from a partially erected scaffold in Yorkshire.
Michael Swales and a colleague were erecting scaffolding at the front of a two-storey house under construction near Ripon when he fell after standing on an unsecured scaffolding board. Emergency services attended, but he died at the scene.
Swales was working for Ask Scaffolding, based in Pickering, in July 2023. A Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation found inadequate measures were in place to prevent or mitigate the risk of a fall and that Ask Scaffolding had failed to ensure work at height was carried out safely.
The investigation found that safe zones had not been established, and neither Swales nor his colleague were using a harness or lanyard while working.
Ask Scaffolding pleaded guilty to breaching the Work at Height Regulations 2005. It was fined £16,000 and ordered to pay £8,000 in costs and a £2,000 victim surcharge at Leeds Magistrates’ Court last week (4 November).
HSE inspector David Beaton said: “This tragic accident underlines the importance of those in control of scaffolding work making sure that it is being done safely and in accordance with industry guidance, and the potential consequences where this is not done.”
