Day 130 - 26 May 95 - Page 45


     
     1
     2   MR. MORRIS:  I think she also called them "the experts".
     3
     4   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  It is quite right.  It slipped my mind for
     5        the moment, but she did volunteer that judgment on the
     6        report.
     7
     8   MR. MORRIS:  I was just trying to see the motivation of the
     9        HSE.  It said at one point -- I cannot find it -- that
    10        McDonald's RIDDOR accidents reported -----
    11        A.  It is page 802.
    12
    13   Q.   802?
    14        A.  Is that the bit you are looking for?
    15
    16   Q.   Yes.  A large proportion were reported by McDonald's.  This
    17        was, undoubtedly, due to general under reporting in this
    18        sector.  This large proportion, was it a majority of RIDDOR
    19        accidents?
    20        A.  When Andrew Foster presented the figures to us at our
    21        opening meetings, in slide format, and I believe it was
    22        about 80 per cent of accidents reported in the quick
    23        service restaurants sector, the fast-food sector, were
    24        ours.
    25
    26   Q.   Take-away catering sector, is that, it says there?
    27        A.  Yes.
    28
    29   Q.   That is what it would be?
    30        A.  Yes.
    31
    32   Q.   I will not be referring to that again.  There was one
    33        thing, though, this HSE report, how did the Company treat
    34        it?  Did they try to bury it and forget that it happened,
    35        or did they try to circulate it to make people aware that
    36        it had happened?
    37        A.  Well, I think we had about 30 copies, 30 bound copies,
    38        that we sent to senior management, and it has been much
    39        photocopied since, and the presentation of our response
    40        back to the Health and Safety Executive in December of 1992
    41        was attended by most of the representation on the UK board,
    42        the UK-based people on the UK board were there, so all the
    43        senior executives, including Paul Preston and Andrew
    44        Taylor.  They took it very, very seriously.
    45
    46        Just as, you know, my opinion is it is balanced, they took
    47        it as being very balanced as well.  We welcomed all the
    48        recommendations and, as you know, we have implemented them
    49        all.  We could not have done that without support from the
    50        very top. 
    51 
    52   Q.   It is all very well the top knowing about it, but what 
    53        about the people with more direct contact with the
    54        restaurants?  I do not mean obviously crew people or
    55        whatever, but what about Senior Supervisors and people like
    56        that, would they have been aware of it?
    57        A.  Yes, the health and safety management plan that we put
    58        together as our response, I presented to both region
    59        meetings restaurant managers and to the national
    60        conference, the March after this -- March, 1993 it would

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