Day 121 - 04 May 95 - Page 36
1
2 Q. If it was in the kitchen area, no matter where it was from,
3 if you walked in and found a quarter of an inch of water on
4 the kitchen floor and the staff still working, would you
5 automatically say to them: "Stop work now"?
6 A. I would not expect to walk into a kitchen and find a
7 quarter of an inch of water on the floor, and staff still
8 working.
9
10 MR. JUSTICE BELL: No, look, you have asked it now and the
11 answer is -- I have to say I think he has given a fair
12 enough answer, it would depend on all the circumstances.
13 If you walked in and found a quarter of an inch of water
14 over the kitchen floor and said: "What has happened?" and
15 the Manager said: "We have just had a burst pipe. We have
16 managed to deal with it. We are getting rid of the water
17 and people are ticking over meanwhile, keeping things
18 going", that might be a satisfactory answer. It would just
19 depend on what you saw, what explanation you were given,
20 would it not?
21
22 If you are saying that there was a persistent leak which
23 meant that, however hard you pumped and swabbed, there was
24 going to remain a quarter of an inch of water on the
25 kitchen floor, the answer might be completely different:
26 "We cannot have this; shut the store, we have got to solve
27 the problem". It all depends on the circumstances.
28
29 MS. STEEL: Even if the flow of water had stopped, if there was
30 a quarter of an inch of water on the floor and staff were
31 still doing the fries, making the burgers, doing the
32 dressings, using electrical equipment, if you walked in on
33 that kind of situation, would you say to the staff: "Stop
34 work immediately and do not resume work until this is all
35 mopped up"?
36 A. I have given my answer.
37
38 Q. Can you just answer that question, please?
39 A. I have answered it.
40
41 Q. I do not think you have. If you have, then answer it again
42 and it will be over and done with very quickly.
43 A. I would want to know that the cause was, and until that
44 happened I would not know what line of action to follow.
45
46 MS. STEEL: I really do not see why the witness cannot answer
47 the question.
48
49 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I think you should put precise circumstances
50 of an incident which you say has happened and which you
51 propose to establish by evidence in due course and then ask
52 him about that. But you must be precise about the
53 circumstances, because otherwise the witness gives an
54 answer, it turned out the circumstances are not just like
55 that and it makes all the world of difference
56
57 MS. STEEL: To be honest, whether or not something happened, I
58 am quite perturbed by the answer he has given, that he
59 would not automatically tell them to stop work.
60
