Day 127 - 23 May 95 - Page 17


     
     1        is greater and, therefore, you need to think about control
     2        procedures.
     3
     4   MR. MORRIS:  Can we have a five-minute adjournment?
     5
     6   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Yes.
     7
     8                         (Short Adjournment)
     9
    10   MR. RAMPTON:  Mrs. Barnes, you were telling us about risk
    11        assessment.  As I have understood what you have told us so
    12        far, you look at what the risks may be and you look at who
    13        may be exposed to them, at what point in the service, as it
    14        were; is that right?
    15        A.  That is right, yes.  The whole point about risk
    16        assessment was not only was it part of the Electricity at
    17        Work Regulations that came out in 1990, and the control of
    18        substances hazardous to health regulations or COSH, as they
    19        are known, but also we could see that there were going to
    20        be more regulations coming out from the EC with risk
    21        assessment at the core, and with it being new the Company
    22        felt then was the time to have somebody to go into more
    23        depth with the technical aspects of health and safety so
    24        that we were ready for those new regulations and could put
    25        together a plan of how we were going to react to the
    26        Electricity at Work Regulations and to COSH.
    27
    28   Q.   I want to come back to that in a moment, but did you in
    29        1990, perhaps, I know not, as a function of your new
    30        position gain a Diploma of the National Executive Board of
    31        Occupational Health and Safety?
    32        A.  I did, yes.
    33
    34   Q.   That was a Diploma in Safety Management?
    35        A.  It was.  It is equivalent to a post graduate one year
    36        full time course.
    37
    38   Q.   I see.  When did you actually do that course then?
    39        A.  I believe I started in late 1990 and completed it at
    40        the end of the following year, although I might be slightly
    41        out on dates there.
    42
    43   Q.   But were you able to continue with your work at McDonald's
    44        at the same time?
    45        A.  I was, yes.
    46
    47   Q.   So there was a lot of swotting in the evenings and that
    48        kind of thing?
    49        A.  There was a lot of swotting in the evenings.  I did it
    50        by an open learning package and I also studied at home when 
    51        I needed to. 
    52 
    53   Q.   Was that something that you decided to do or you were
    54        encouraged to do by the Company?
    55        A.  It was both; they encouraged me to get appropriate
    56        qualifications, although because previously I had an
    57        experience of dealing with environmental health officers in
    58        interpreting the law, I had not had in any experience in
    59        health and safety.
    60

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