Day 128 - 24 May 95 - Page 16


     
     1   Q.   But, basically, you try to keep going and keep the
     2        customers happy for as long as possible?
     3        A.  Well, no, that is not what I said, and you react to the
     4        situation as it unfolds, and you have to keep your
     5        employees and your customer safety at the forefront and
     6        other things which is, you know, the hygiene, the food and
     7        so forth, depending what happens.
     8
     9   Q.   It would be very dangerous to be working with water, a
    10        quarter of an inch of water all over the floor?
    11        A. It depends what flooring it is.  If it something like
    12        Altro flooring, even with water on it, it is still slip
    13        resistant.
    14
    15   Q.   You could have problems with electrical equipment?
    16        A.  Electrical equipment is more than a quarter of an inch
    17        off the ground, so it should not be a problem.
    18
    19   Q.   So in some situations you would find that entirely
    20        acceptable?
    21        A.  It would depend on the situation completely.  For
    22        example, if it was a back room and somebody had spilt water
    23        on the floor, you might get a quarter of an inch quite
    24        quickly.  They are usually small rooms.  They have
    25        slip-resistant flooring.  You would want to get somebody in
    26        there to clear it up. Even in this situation, you have got
    27        to have somebody in there to clear it up, and if you are
    28        saying that a quarter of an inch of water on the floor is
    29        inherently dangerous, that would be very difficult to do.
    30
    31   Q.   In the kitchen area?
    32        A.  I would agree they would need, if the water was on the
    33        floor, they would certainly need to get it cleaned up, sort
    34        out the problem and, if was dangerous to the people,
    35        depending on the flooring and the specific situation,
    36        I would expect them to do what they did do and close the
    37        restaurant until the clean-up had taken place.
    38
    39   Q.   But just to clarify, you do not think it is inherently
    40        dangerous to have a quarter of an inch of water on the
    41        floor of a kitchen area?
    42        A.  It depends on the flooring.  It depends on the
    43        situation.  It depends what the people were doing; if it
    44        was very quiet, and there were not any customers in the
    45        store, it would not be dangerous.
    46
    47   Q.   But if they were serving customers it would be?
    48        A.  Well, in the middle of a lunch-time, yes, I would
    49        expect it would quite dangerous without a slip resistant
    50        floor.  At 7 o'clock in the evening with a slip resistant 
    51        floor  and no customers in sight, no, it would not be 
    52        dangerous. 
    53
    54   Q.   If there were two or three customers, not the middle of the
    55        rush hour.
    56        A.  It is the Manager's decision, depending on what the
    57        situation is at the time.
    58
    59   Q.   Are the stores instructed on where to keep the accident
    60        book?

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