Trainee scaffolder killed in five-metre fall

A scaffolding contractor has been fined £16,000 after a trainee scaffolder died in a five-metre fall on a new housing job.
Michael Swales was working for Ask Scaffolding Ltd on July 5 2023 at a residential development near Ripon in North Yorkshire.
Swales and a colleague were erecting scaffolding at the front of a two-storey house under construction when he fell five metres after standing on an unsecured scaffolding board.An HSE investigation found that Ask Scaffolding Ltd had failed to ensure