A Warwickshire engineering company has been prosecuted and fined, after two employees fell from a work platform while fitting a ceiling fan.

Nuneaton Magistrates’ Court was told that the two injured employees, who have not been named, were working as part of a six man team, who were attempting to reinstall a large motorised ceiling fan.

As they attempted to fit the fans heavy motor, a section of the mesh mezzanine platform they were standing on gave way and sent the pair plummeting over two metres to the ground below.

One of the workers suffered a broken collar bone in the incident and was off work for six weeks; the other employee suffered a black eye and a cut to the back of his head.

The accident which occurred at Mira Ltd’s, Watling Street site, near Nuneaton, was investigated by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), who discovered that the company had neglected to plan an adequate risk assessment of the work involved.

Mira Ltd, of Watling Street, near Nuneaton, in Warwickshire, was fined £12,000 and ordered to pay court costs totalling £9,305 after admitting a breach of the Health and Safety at Work Act.

Fall from height accidents remain one of the biggest causes of serious injury in the workplace, with over six thousand cases reported last year alone.