Day 070 - 20 Dec 94 - Page 29
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2 MR. JUSTICE BELL: That is my first thought. What I am
3 suggesting is a step towards getting further information
4 before I make an order one way or the other, because what
5 I do feel I have to do in this area -- and I think I said
6 it in terms before -- is draw some kind of balance between
7 getting useful information and an enormous burden on your
8 clients for what might be little useful information. But
9 I do, Mr. Rampton, feel at the moment that I need to know
10 more about the system of keeping accurate statistics before
11 I can make a final ruling.
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13 MR. RAMPTON: I know that in this country the method by which it
14 is done is simply that each store has an accident book
15 which is filled in more or less assiduously, according to
16 the efficiency of the particular operation. Some of those
17 have been disclosed. After that, what happens is that
18 certain kinds of accidents have to be reported.
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20 MR. JUSTICE BELL: But that must be reduced to some kind of
21 analysis which is fuller than tab 7 before someone can sit
22 down yet again and produce something like the bottom of
23 page 156.
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25 MR. RAMPTON: I will find out, first of all, if I can, how the
26 tables in 156 were compiled. I am not going to hazard a
27 guess at that, because that is an American document.
28 I will also find out what is the database for the tables at
29 tab 7; and we will also give your Lordship -- there is one
30 coming from America -- a short account (not a sworn
31 account, just a statement) of how the system works in this
32 country.
33
34 MR. JUSTICE BELL: The final thing seems to me is, which you say
35 is already being addressed, is there a possible model for
36 the States which could be obtained which, although it would
37 be only be a sample and therefore might be more or less
38 accurate, would at least give some indication of that?
39
40 MR. RAMPTON: My Lord, I think that probably can be done, but
41 I am not going commit myself because when I do I am usually
42 wrong.
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44 MR. MORRIS: Not to refer to the document, but casting my mind
45 back over the document from the Health and Safety Executive
46 which we did refer to -- I do not know if you remember --
47 the document about their safety procedures, and they had
48 interviewed a number of executives, including Mr. Preston;
49 I think we cross-examined Mr. Preston on it -- I think one
50 of the recommendations in there was that McDonald's
51 compiled statistics. I cannot remember. But, certainly,
52 it would be our submission that if McDonald's is unable to
53 produce accurate statistics, we will argue that they are
54 completely irresponsible in monitoring their safety
55 procedures.
56
57 MR. JUSTICE BELL: That is a point of argument. I am concerned
58 in discovery. It is pretty obvious that the idea of 400
59 (let alone 5,000) equivalents of the three or four reports
60 we saw where someone had found a chicken bone, the
