Day 070 - 20 Dec 94 - Page 28
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2 MR. JUSTICE BELL: That might or might not be my conclusion at
3 the end of the day. But it seems to me that on the basis
4 that this manual applies to the US as well as the UK, it is
5 fair to assume, until I am told otherwise, that the
6 Operations and Training Manual is abided by and, therefore,
7 accurate statistics are kept. That is confirmed by the
8 ability to produce a table such as that on the bottom half
9 of page 156; and a further assumption would be that it
10 applies both in the States and in the United Kingdom.
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12 MR. RAMPTON: Well, United Kingdom -- yes, we have done that.
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14 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I am not sure you have, you see. Certainly,
15 it has been started on, but clearly, in order to produce,
16 I would have thought, the bottom half of page 156, they are
17 able to see whether someone who has fallen due to a
18 slippery, wet floor or walkway has cracked his elbow or
19 fractured his spine. When one is looking at the steps
20 which have been taken, it might be relevant to know how
21 many, if any, are very severe indeed. What is the
22 immediate -----
23
24 MR. RAMPTON: With respect, I question that last proposition,
25 but I will not argue it now. You may get a very severe
26 accident which happens once in a blue moon, like the
27 unfortunate electrocution of Mark Hopkins in Manchester --
28 whether that was McDonald's fault of course is entirely
29 another question -- that may happen.
30
31 I am not trying to be difficult about this at all. All
32 I am trying to do is save a disproportion amount of time of
33 and money on producing documents or figures which may, in
34 the end, not actually help your Lordship decide what we see
35 to be the issue in the case, which is whether or not
36 McDonald's are responsible employers who care about the
37 welfare of their workforce. It is true that these figures
38 could have a bearing on the question, but one questions how
39 far that is likely to be seen.
40
41 What we will do is, we will cause an enquiry to be made --
42 this document is 1990/1991 -- to see what these figures are
43 actually based on.
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45 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Subject to anything further which Mr. Morris
46 wishes to say, what I would like to see is some account of
47 what the system is and how it complies with the reference
48 to "keeping accurate statistics" on page 156, because in a
49 case where information has often not been summary enough --
50 and one applauds any information which comes in a summary
51 form -- this tab 7 is summary in the extreme.
52
53 You might well be able to argue, I do not know, that if
54 they have got as many restaurants as they have in this
55 country, 400 reportable accidents a year, even if they were
56 moderately severe, would not be a bad safety record; I do
57 not know, I have not heard evidence on that.
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59 MR. RAMPTON: Your Lordship will hear evidence from experts
60 about that. There is no doubt about that.
