Day 132 - 07 Jun 95 - Page 36


     
     1        discourage people from hanging around when they could be
     2        working?  It is possible, is it not?
     3        A.  It is also possible that there was an electrical fault
     4        or whatever.  I have said that in my comment I find it
     5        difficult to accept that heating would be deliberately
     6        isolated.
     7
     8   Q.   But if the heating in the crew room was low, you would be
     9        concerned?
    10        A.  Yes, certainly it should be at an equitable
    11        temperature, certainly.
    12
    13   Q.   On page 16 there was:  "Mr. McGill had stated that there
    14        was neither cold protection or gloves available for staff
    15        in the cold store".  Your response was:  "The time spent in
    16        a refrigerator stowing stores is minimal"?
    17        A.  Yes.
    18
    19   Q.    But there will be checks on the stores, on what is stored
    20        in the cold store, would there not, from time to time to
    21        see what is actually -----
    22
    23   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  You made a reservation about that.  You said
    24        unless they were stock-taking?
    25        A.  Well, indeed.  I mean, even stock-taking would not take
    26        that long, my Lord, because you are talking about may be a
    27        dozen boxes of burgers in the freezer, or whatever, but
    28        certainly if anybody was called upon to work in the freezer
    29        for any length of time, one would expect some sort of
    30        gloves or outer clothing to be worn, but it would need to
    31        be more than just the general stowing and movement of
    32        goods.
    33
    34   MR. MORRIS:  There may be times when the stores in the storeroom
    35        have to be re-arranged?
    36        A.  Possibly so.  I do not know.  You would have to ask an
    37        Operations person.
    38
    39   Q.   There is also the loading and unloading which in some
    40        stores may take sometime?
    41        A.  Loading and unloading I do not see as a problem.  You
    42        take a box, you walk into the freezer, put it down and walk
    43        out again.  You know, throughout industry that is done and
    44        walk-in freezers are used throughout the hotel and catering
    45        industry.  I say again, if you have a need for somebody to
    46        work in there for any length of time, to be actually
    47        staying in there for any length of time, then, yes, you
    48        should have some sort of warm clothing.  I accept that, but
    49        it is not the norm.
    50 
    51   Q.   You then say:  "Dermatitis from chemicals is well 
    52        documented in the industry"? 
    53        A.  Yes.
    54
    55   Q.   So that is a risk, is it, from cleaning chemicals?
    56        A.  Dermatitis is a risk from cleaning chemicals, yes.
    57        That is a known risk in industry generally.  I would add
    58        that that is one of the reasons why we specified
    59        comparatively mild chemicals, and so on and so forth, to
    60        try to limit any such problems.

Prev Next Index