Day 132 - 07 Jun 95 - Page 45


     
     1
     2   MR. MORRIS:  The figures which you give there, that would relate
     3        to the Colchester store?
     4        A.  Indeed, that is the heading of that section, yes.
     5        I attempted to contrast that with the amount of hours
     6        worked, so that we have an idea of what the normal
     7        full-time occupancy would be so that I could get some idea
     8        of accident rates basically.
     9
    10   Q.   I do not think I need to ask any questions about that
    11        then.  I have finished with your statement, Mr. Purslow.
    12
    13   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Give it back to Mr. Rampton.  We took what
    14        appeared to be the one legible copy, Mr. Rampton.
    15
    16   MS. STEEL:   In 1992 when Jill Barnes was on maternity leave
    17        you, kind of, stepped into her shoes and dealt with the
    18        investigations into the incident where an employee received
    19        an electric shock at the Harbourn store; is that right?
    20        A.  I did not conduct a full investigation.  I was
    21        certainly involved in that the incident was referred to me
    22        for my advice, certainly, and that I covered for Jill on
    23        that basis and I have done so subsequently.  In other
    24        words, if they want any backup advice, everybody knows my
    25        telephone number.  They get in touch with me.  I looked at
    26        it on that basis.
    27
    28   Q.   What did your investigations reveal?
    29        A.  The investigation had already been conducted both by
    30        the Environmental Health Officer and McDonald's by the time
    31        I was asked to look at it or my advice was sought.  The
    32        machine had been, as I remember, removed by the
    33        Environmental Health Department for an engineer's report.
    34        As I remember, the facts of case were that a plug had been
    35        adjusted, altered, whatever, in such a way that ultimately
    36        it created an electric shock.  The facts of case were not
    37        dissimilar to the one that caused a tragic death
    38        subsequently.
    39
    40   Q.   Was there an investigation into related matters in terms of
    41        damaged sockets, whether the flex for the equipment was
    42        long enough to reach from the equipment to the socket
    43        without being taut?
    44        A.  As I say, the equipment was not available for me to
    45        look at and it already been seized by the EHO for their own
    46        investigation.  Whether they considered it or not, I really
    47        do not know.
    48
    49   Q.   So you do not know what other matters the Company
    50        investigated then? 
    51        A.  Well, yes, as far as the Company were concerned, as 
    52        I say, we looked at the business once again of rewiring 
    53        plugs, and so on and so forth.  As I remember (and I have
    54        not got any reports in front of me, but as I remember), the
    55        EHO also drew attention to two other pieces of equipment
    56        where the cable had come out of the plug grips, as
    57        I remember.  Those were, in actual fact, on equipment that
    58        had been brought in for a child's party.  I think it was
    59        discotheque type equipment or something along those lines.
    60        We made the point within the Company that, obviously,

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