Day 121 - 04 May 95 - Page 36


     
     1
     2   Q.   If it was in the kitchen area, no matter where it was from,
     3        if you walked in and found a quarter of an inch of water on
     4        the kitchen floor and the staff still working, would you
     5        automatically say to them:  "Stop work now"?
     6        A.  I would not expect to walk into a kitchen and find a
     7        quarter of an inch of water on the floor, and staff still
     8        working.
     9
    10   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  No, look, you have asked it now and the
    11        answer is -- I have to say I think he has given a fair
    12        enough answer, it would depend on all the circumstances.
    13        If you walked in and found a quarter of an inch of water
    14        over the kitchen floor and said:  "What has happened?" and
    15        the Manager said:  "We have just had a burst pipe.  We have
    16        managed to deal with it.  We are getting rid of the water
    17        and people are ticking over meanwhile, keeping things
    18        going", that might be a satisfactory answer.  It would just
    19        depend on what you saw, what explanation you were given,
    20        would it not?
    21
    22        If you are saying that there was a persistent leak which
    23        meant that, however hard you pumped and swabbed, there was
    24        going to remain a quarter of an inch of water on the
    25        kitchen floor, the answer might be completely different:
    26         "We cannot have this; shut the store, we have got to solve
    27        the problem".  It all depends on the circumstances.
    28
    29   MS. STEEL:  Even if the flow of water had stopped, if there was
    30        a quarter of an inch of water on the floor and staff were
    31        still doing the fries, making the burgers, doing the
    32        dressings, using electrical equipment, if you walked in on
    33        that kind of situation, would you say to the staff:  "Stop
    34        work immediately and do not resume work until this is all
    35        mopped up"?
    36        A.  I have given my answer.
    37
    38   Q.   Can you just answer that question, please?
    39        A.  I have answered it.
    40
    41   Q.   I do not think you have.  If you have, then answer it again
    42        and it will be over and done with very quickly.
    43        A.  I would want to know that the cause was, and until that
    44        happened I would not know what line of action to follow.
    45
    46   MS. STEEL:  I really do not see why the witness cannot answer
    47        the question.
    48
    49   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  I think you should put precise circumstances
    50        of an incident which you say has happened and which you 
    51        propose to establish by evidence in due course and then ask 
    52        him about that.  But you must be precise about the 
    53        circumstances, because otherwise the witness gives an
    54        answer, it turned out the circumstances are not just like
    55        that and it makes all the world of difference
    56
    57   MS. STEEL:  To be honest, whether or not something happened, I
    58        am quite perturbed by the answer he has given, that he
    59        would not automatically tell them to stop work.
    60

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