Day 130 - 26 May 95 - Page 37
1 A. Yes, well, Keith Smith who is our Services Manager, he
2 is most adamant that there is a risk from changing light
3 bulbs, and that it should only have been contractors. You
4 can imagine in terms of getting management to comply with
5 that, it is very difficult because the culture outside of
6 work is that you would change a light bulb yourself.
7
8 MR. MORRIS: But it may be more hazardous to do so in a kitchen
9 area where there is lots of different equipment and floors
10 might be slippery; is that the reason that ----
11 A. Well, no. It is just, if you do not isolate it, it
12 does not matter what sort of bulb, you still have a current
13 going to it, there is a possibility of a shock. As I say,
14 it is the sort of thing that, you know, everybody who works
15 in McDonald's has a home life outside of work. They bring
16 with them the same mind set, and it is so difficult getting
17 over to them that something you do at work has to be
18 different than you do -- the way you do it at home.
19
20 MR. MORRIS: It might be a suitable time just to say that I was
21 not going to ask questions about it, but we do not accept
22 that the home environment and the work environment can be
23 related in that way.
24
25 MR. JUSTICE BELL: You address me on that. You have no need to
26 pursue it. In fact, I will merely say this, that I have
27 read, years ago, figures which state that there are far
28 more accidents in the home than there are at work. Far,
29 far fewer of them come to public attention, and hardly any
30 of them lead to claims of one kind or another, for the
31 simple reason that there is no-one one can usefully sue.
32 But you need not concern yourself about that, because
33 I accept that there is the duty on an employer to provide
34 reasonably safe conditions for his employee, and that all,
35 almost certainly, involves applying higher standards than
36 the standards we apply to our own care or even,
37 regrettably, those of other members of our family, at home.
38
39 MR. MORRIS: Yes.
40
41 MR. JUSTICE BELL: So you need not trouble yourself about that.
42
43 MR. MORRIS: But also the environment is different. You are not
44 doing a job, being bossed around by somebody who is under
45 pressure.
46
47 MR. JUSTICE BELL: You can elaborate on it any way, but the
48 principle is perfectly covered.
49
50 MR. MORRIS: A lot of equipment, well, all the equipment will
51 not be there at home.
52
53 MR. RAMPTON: I do not think it is time to make speeches about
54 this or not. I have a quite a lot to say.
55
56 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I wish I had not said anything. You were
57 quite right to say that you need not put it to Mrs. Barnes.
58
59 MR. MORRIS (To the witness): Just on AY -- I think we are
60 getting close to the end of these -- here we have a second
