Day 130 - 26 May 95 - Page 46
1 be. So every Restaurant Manager and everybody above them
2 in the hierarchy was made aware of the report and our
3 response to it.
4
5 Q. Did it have any implications for training in the Company,
6 this report, was it just something that was read, or
7 something that would have some kind of effect on, say,
8 training procedures?
9 A. Certainly, it was after this report that we introduced
10 the questions on the back of the OCLs that relate to
11 safety, and it was just after this report that we also
12 started teaching the basic health and safety course, the
13 one-day course to managers. But, prior to that, obviously,
14 safety had already been built into the other management
15 courses but we had more specific training on health and
16 safety introduced after this report.
17
18 Q. So how could it be that Mr. Atherton had never heard of
19 this report when he came into the witness box?
20 A. Well, as I said, just the way it was presented to them,
21 and John probably would have been a Senior Supervisor or an
22 Ops Manager at the time, was that we have had the
23 assessment done: "Here is our response to it. Here are
24 the 23 recommendations. This is what we are going to do.
25 This is what is important to you".
26
27 Q. He said: "I have never seen the report before". "Have you
28 ever heard it mentioned before?" "In all honesty, no.
29 I have not heard this report mentioned before". This was
30 on day 85, page 6, of the transcript.
31 A. There is no reason why he should have seen the report.
32
33 Q. He had never heard it mentioned before?
34 A. You are talking about two years and, you know, the way
35 it was presented to the Operations people was how they need
36 to respond to it, what our response was, which, surely, was
37 more important than the nitty-gritty of what was in the
38 report itself.
39
40 MR. JUSTICE BELL: As I understand it, your case is that what
41 you did was set about implementing the recommendations?
42 A. That is correct.
43
44 Q. That is what you thought was important?
45 A. That is correct.
46
47 Q. If you implemented the recommendations in the report there
48 is no need for you to weigh down managers in the field with
49 the content of the report; is that what you are saying?
50 A. Exactly, sir.
51
52 MR. MORRIS: I mean, we are talking about senior supervisory
53 grades. We are talking about the head of training.
54
55 MR. RAMPTON: No, he was not.
56
57 MR. MORRIS: The person you report to, in fact?
58 A. John was not head of training at the time, neither did
59 I report to him.
60
