Day 084 - 07 Feb 95 - Page 33


     
     1        was relatively large in 1992/1993?
     2        A.  In 1992 I believe Jill Barnes undertook the position of
     3        Health and Safety Manager or just prior to that, and there
     4        was an overhaul in our systems and, I think, maybe a
     5        raising in consciousness of reporting of accidents which
     6        may have occurred, but on top of that the number of
     7        restaurants were opening at a rate of 50 per year, so maybe
     8        the rate is around about the same, the same percentage per
     9        number of employees is the same.
    10
    11   Q.   We can do the exact mathematics later on.  But to some
    12        extent you think it may be -- perhaps we had better ask
    13        Mrs. Barnes -- that the earlier years showed an
    14        under-reporting?
    15        A.  I think so.  I think it is one of the things we have
    16        found in health and safety as we have sought to improve it,
    17        that when we raise a particular issue, the number of the
    18        incidents would rise and then we start managing those
    19        particular incidents and they fall.  So, that may be the
    20        explanation.  I am sure Jill would have a much better, a
    21        much more detailed explanation for you.
    22
    23   Q.   We will ask her.  It may not be profitable for me to pursue
    24        the next two sheets but just have a look at them, if you
    25        will.  The first one should be type of accident and the
    26        next one should be place of accident; is that right?
    27        A.  I have them in the other order.
    28
    29   Q.   Never mind.  I do not why that is.  That is the wrong order
    30        but let us take "place of accident" first.  We see that as
    31        perhaps we might expect kitchen accounts for more accidents
    32        by quite a long way than anywhere else, yes?
    33        A.  Yes, that is correct.
    34
    35   Q.   I will not bother to ask you about that because it is so
    36        blindingly obvious why that should be so.  But the next
    37        page -- perhaps this is just as obvious, I do not know --
    38        we see that "slips" and "trips", I assume that they are two
    39        names, they are different, slips and trips, are they?
    40        A.  Yes, slips, trips, falls are normally classed
    41        together.  They are a similar type of incident.
    42
    43   Q.   We see that for both years, 1991 and 1993, they are by far
    44        the most common kind of accident?
    45        A.  Yes.
    46
    47   Q.   What is the reason for that?
    48        A.  I think it is as a result of the most common activity,
    49        i.e. walking, moving around the restaurant, you know, there
    50        is a chance of doing that; whereas, say, manual handling, 
    51        which would be picking a box up, it would be done less 
    52        often thereby the incidents would be less frequent. 
    53
    54   Q.   Is this a problem which you have your eye on, this business
    55        of slipping and tripping?
    56        A.  Well, this is a type of document we would get and it
    57        would prioritize to us that the health and safety
    58        departments should look into slips, trips and falls as a
    59        priority because it was the area that most accidents were.
    60        So, yes, it would be a priority.

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