Employee serves up highest health and safety exam scores

An employee of a pub has achieved the highest marks in the country in a health and safety qualification.

John Hall had the best performance of any candidate in the Advanced Diploma in Health and Safety in the Workplace examinations this year.

Working for the chain JD Wetherspoon, Mr Hall was given the award by the Royal Society for the Promotion of Health, formerly the Royal Society for Public Health, for his work as one of the company's retail auditors.

The job involves checking health and safety standards at its outlets and ensuring food hygiene is up to the firm's standards.

Mr Hall says he is "really pleased" to have won the award this year.

He says: "It reflects well on the standards that myself and my colleagues strive for during our inspections at the pubs."

The Royal Society of Health was founded in 1876 and has been holding examinations from 1877.

It merged with the Royal Institute of Public Health, which awarded the prize, this month.