Day 128 - 24 May 95 - Page 33


     
     1        statements.
     2
     3   Q.   How was it decided which accidents would be investigated
     4        and which would not?
     5        A.  I cannot remember, to be honest.
     6
     7   MR. RAMPTON:  My Lord, I know Mrs. Barnes has a cold, but still
     8        I am having difficulty in hearing.
     9
    10   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Yes.
    11
    12   THE WITNESS:  I am sorry.
    13
    14   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Do not worry.  It is very easy to slip back.
    15        Try to remember to keep your voice up and speak out into
    16        the court.
    17
    18   MS. STEEL:   Why were the security department investigating
    19        accidents?
    20        A.  They just had the expertise in taking the statements.
    21
    22   Q.   But they did not have any expertise in accidents?
    23        A.  No, they were just used to gather the information.
    24
    25   Q.   So once the information had been gathered, what happened to
    26        it?  It just got put in a file?
    27        A.  It would be used, for example, if there was an
    28        insurance claim.
    29
    30   Q.   So the Company basically did not do anything with the
    31        information it gathered unless there was an insurance
    32        claim?
    33        A.  At that time we did not have a system for following up
    34        on accident investigations, no.
    35
    36   Q.   There was a reference yesterday to the objectives of
    37        accident investigation being to identify the causes of
    38        accidents and, hopefully, prevent reoccurrence, and then,
    39        hopefully, there would be fewer accidents, yes?
    40        A.  Yes.
    41
    42   Q.   You said that the rate of accidents had gone down?
    43        A.  It did in 1994, yes.
    44
    45   Q.   Is that a consistent decrease or is that just a blip for
    46        1994?
    47        A.  It is much too early to tell.  I cannot tell on one
    48        year's statistics.
    49
    50   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Because you need more than one year to see 
    51        whether there is any pattern to it? 
    52        A.  That is right.  You cannot establish a trend from just 
    53        one year's fall.  It might just be a natural variation in
    54        the statistics.
    55
    56   MS. STEEL:   You said yesterday that the total number of RIDDOR
    57        accidents throughout the country was 380 in 1994.  Did that
    58        include Scotland?
    59        A.  Yes, it did.
    60

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