Ask Scaffolding Ltd has been fined £16,000 after a trainee scaffolder died in a 5-metre fall while erecting scaffolding at a housing development near Ripon.
The company pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 4(1)(c) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005. Leeds Magistrates’ Court also ordered it to pay £8,000 in costs and a £2,000 victim surcharge on 4 November 2026.
Michael Swales was working with a colleague at the front of a two-storey house under construction on 5 July 2023. He stood on an unsecured scaffold board and fell from the partially erected structure. Emergency services attended, but he died at the scene.
In a prosecution report published on 6 November 2026, the Health and Safety Executive said there were inadequate measures to prevent or limit the consequences of a fall.
HSE found that the work did not follow industry guidance. No safe zones had been established, and neither worker was using a harness or lanyard.
The regulator also found failures in earlier scaffolding work. An inspection after the incident identified missing guardrails, while several witnesses told investigators that company operatives regularly worked without following the guidance.
Ask Scaffolding, based at Thornton Road Industrial Estate in Pickering, had failed to ensure work at height was carried out safely so far as was reasonably practicable, HSE said.
HSE inspector David Beaton said the case showed the consequences when those controlling scaffolding work failed to make sure it was carried out safely and followed industry guidance.
“Our thoughts remain with Michael’s family and friends.”
HSE said collective protection should be used to create a “Scaffolder’s Safe Zone” as the main means of preventing falls. Personal fall protection is needed when a scaffolder is working without a safe zone. Its scaffolding guidance sets out the measures employers and contractors should take during erection, dismantling and alteration.
