AWE on safety charges

The case, brought by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) had been listed at Reading Crown Court last Wednesday, March 27, for a plea and case management hearing.
However, no pleas were entered and Judge Richard Parkes ordered Bernard Thoroughgood QC, for the HSE, and James Maxwell-Scott QC, for AWE Plc, to exchange papers in readiness for a full hearing on May 16.
The AWE - where the UK’s nuclear weapons are manufactured and maintained - is now expected to enter a plea on this date, and a full day has been set aside to hear the case.
The case was first scheduled to be heard in Reading Magistrates Court on August 6 last year but has since been adjourned a number of times.
AWE Plc currently faces the following charges relating to the incident: failing to ensure, so far as was reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare at work of all its employees; failing to take appropriate measures to limit the extent of fire or explosion and failing to ensure that suitable personal protective equipment was provided to its employees who may be exposed to a risk to their health and safety.