A NORTH Tawton business has won a gold award for its high safety standards for the fourth year running.

Operations manager for Glanbia Foods at Taw Valley Creamery Elwyn Atkins said it was a team effort that won the company recognition from the Royal Society of the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) and the British Safety Council.

Glanbia Foods is one of ten Devon companies honoured in the RoSPA's annual awards presented to organisations that can prove constantly improving levels of safety performance each year.

Mr Atkins said everyone at Glanbia Foods, which employs 125 at its North Tawton factory, was 'chuffed to bits'º.

'It is a really good achievement because a lot of hard work is put in to maintain this position,' he said. 'We have good systems in place and people who are very pro-active — no individual is to be praised for this it is a team effort.'

Glanbia Foods has an accident rate that is 30 per cent better than the national average, a very stringent set of health and safety rules and is constantly updating its health and safety action plan.

The importance of the awards has been recognised this year for the first time by companies throughout the world and entries from all continents — with 900 winners in the UK the results indicate Britain is continuing to lead the world regarding safety in the workplace.