AWE has been given a top accolade by the British Safety Council – just months after it handed back awards to another safety organisation.

Earlier this year, the Atomic Weapons Establishment gave back safety awards to the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) in the wake of a court case that followed a fire at its Aldermaston base.

Last year, a judge fined the company £200,000 after a fireball erupted in the face of a Basingstoke employee in August 2010. The prosecution was brought by the Health and Safety Executive.

A statement said the firm had “worked together with RoSPA” to “re-evaluate the appropriateness of the awards which AWE plc had received since the incident”.

However, the weapons company last week announced that it has been awarded a British Safety Council sword of honour for the third year running – an award described in a statement from AWE as “the pinnacle of achievement in the world of health and safety management”.

Brian Smith, acting head of construction for AWE, said: “These awards represent a lot of hard work and an enduring commitment that AWE construction projects exemplify world class health and safety standards.”

Andy McCluskey, from AWE construction, added: “We don’t enter these schemes to achieve the awards, but to benchmark our construction environment, safety and health performance against the best of the best worldwide.”