Day 132 - 07 Jun 95 - Page 46


     
     1        anything that comes on to the premises that are not
     2        normally used must be maintained to the normal standard
     3        that we would expect.
     4
     5   Q.   That was in the same store, was it?
     6        A.  I think it was.  Forgive me, we are going back a while
     7        and I have not looked at the papers for a while -- for a
     8        long time indeed.
     9
    10   Q.   When you say you looked again at the business of rewiring
    11        plugs?
    12        A.  Yes.
    13
    14   Q.   What kind of investigation had you been involved about that
    15        then?
    16        A.  Well, I had not in previous, but I was aware of the
    17        McDonald's instruction that only certain people should wire
    18        plugs, people who had gone through the Equipment course.
    19        What I said was since there was something in this instance
    20        that had broken down that system needed to be reinforced
    21        and we needed to notify everybody of that fact which,
    22        I believe, was done.
    23
    24   Q.   So the Company had not previously looked into who was
    25        rewiring plugs, they had just -----
    26        A.  Well, the Company had always limited rewiring of plugs
    27        to people who had been on the AEC course.
    28
    29   Q.   But they had not looked into what the practice was on the
    30        ground?
    31        A.  I cannot comment on that.  I do not know whether they
    32        had or not.  As far as I am concerned, there had not been a
    33        serious incident which suggested that the system was
    34        breaking down.  When the incident occurred and we carried
    35        out the investigation, they then took steps to reinforce
    36        their system which I would have thought appropriate.
    37
    38   Q.   I am only asking because you said you looked at the
    39        business once again of rewiring -----
    40        A.  I see.  I apologise if I mislead you on that
    41        circumstance.  When I say "once again", obviously, this is
    42        the benefit of hindsight and it came up subsequently.  But,
    43        in actual fact, I was aware of the Electricity at Work
    44        systems and so on.  That was something that Joe and I had
    45        looked at specifically which is -- because the Electricity
    46        at Work regulations and so on, we had looked at the
    47        inspection systems for the stores, etc. but obviously it
    48        needed -- we felt it needed reinforcing after that
    49        incident.
    50 
    51   Q.   What other work were you involved in whilst, kind of, 
    52        filling in for Mrs. Barnes? 
    53        A.  I honestly cannot remember now.  As far as I am aware,
    54        that was the only sort of call-out situation, but it would
    55        not be unusual for somebody to phone me up and ask for
    56        advice.  I cannot recall anything else that was tackled at
    57        the time.
    58
    59   MR. MORRIS:  So was, effectively, nobody taking on her
    60        responsibilities then if you were not dealing with any

Prev Next Index