Day 303 - 19 Nov 96 - Page 12
1 it up and other companies would reduce it, but overall the
2 sector is identified as reporting something like ten to 15
3 per cent.
4
5 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Yes.
6
7 MR. MORRIS: If a thousand industrial injuries from that sector
8 are reported we can multiply that thousand by seven to ten
9 to bring it up to 100 per cent of what it would be if they
10 were all reported. So then that would mean that seven to
11 10,000, approximately, actual injuries, reportable
12 injuries, occur in that sector, of which -- so that is the
13 figure, seven to 10,000. Let us assume McDonald's report
14 600 out of that thousand because they are the majority, if
15 it was less than that, they would probably say about half
16 it could be more than that, but we are giving them the
17 benefit of the doubt by calling it 600, if McDonald's
18 reporting rate is something like 50 per cent.
19
20 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Where have you got the 50 per cent?
21
22 MR. MORRIS: It is a completely arbitrary figure that this is.
23 Do not forget for 1989 we are comparing it with... We do
24 not know. Jill Barns plucked a figure and said that she
25 thought the reporting rate in 1992, I think, was 80 per
26 cent, which is completely her figure, so it is bound to be
27 something less than that if that is McDonald's own figure.
28
29 Secondly, we can look at the reporting rate of injuries in
30 accident books and the evidence of our own witnesses about
31 how seriously or not seriously McDonald's management do
32 take injuries, and I think that 50 per cent is a charitable
33 figure in McDonald's favour, that they are something like
34 three to five times the reporting rate of the services
35 sector. So I am giving them a healthy three to five times
36 the reporting rate of the services sector as a whole and
37 saying that the report could be something like 50 per cent,
38 in which case if they report 600 the actual injuries would
39 be 1,200, out of that seven to 10,000, which is 12 to 17
40 per cent of all accidents -----
41
42 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Well....
43
44 MR. MORRIS: Will be the responsibility of McDonald's. These
45 are reportable accidents and -----
46
47 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I just do not know the basis upon which it is
48 suggested that McDonald's report the majority of the
49 accidents. It seems to me that once you say the sector
50 only reports ten or 15 per cent it is another way of saying
51 in fact you do not know how many there are as it is such a
52 small percentage. I can see if you say 80 per cent of
53 accidents are reported you must have a pretty good idea to
54 know what 100 per cent is in order to get the 80, but once
55 you are down to saying they only report ten or 15 per cent
56 you are saying hardly any accidents are reported.
57
58 MR. MORRIS: It was Mr. Rampton's case to Mr. Pearson that it
59 was 16.5 per cent was the actual reportable figure for the
60 services sector.
