Day 128 - 24 May 95 - Page 47
1 A. Security, Equipment, yes.
2
3 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I think I omitted to tell you that if you
4 want to sit down at any stage, just pull your chair up.
5
6 MS. STEEL: You said or implied yesterday that it would not be
7 practical to get data from all the stores about all the
8 accidents that were taking place?
9 A. I think it would be very difficult at the moment.
10 I suppose my ideal long term would be that we could have
11 our own accident book, if you like, on a network computer
12 system so that the information could be put straight in at
13 store level and we could gather it nationally.
14
15 There is no doubt that we would learn more if we could
16 gather all of the information. It is just a case of
17 whether that increase in learning that you would get is
18 worth the effort that would be needed. At the moment, to
19 do it in a manual way, I just feel that the effort would
20 outweigh the benefits. If there was a simple way, which
21 I am sure long term with technical improvements there will
22 be, then, yes, of course, we would gather them all.
23
24 Q. It would be quite simple, would it not, to do it by
25 computer?
26 A. If the technology existed -- we are not that far off.
27
28 Q. Does the Head Office or the regional offices not get data,
29 regular data, from the stores every day about sales and
30 other matters such as that?
31 A. There is a sales data network by what we call the ISP
32 which is the in-store process. There are very limited
33 things we can put on there at the moment, although it is
34 starting to be used for more things. That is why I say
35 eventually I am sure that all sorts of recording can be put
36 on there and shared nationally. It is just not possible at
37 the moment with the capacity of the system.
38
39 Q. All stores have a computer, have they not?
40 A. I am not totally certain whether every store is on the
41 in-store processing system; again it is something that is
42 quite new to us.
43
44 Q. On the limited space that you say is available on the
45 in-store process network, or whatever it is called, the
46 Company feels it is more important to get sales data than
47 to monitor accidents?
48 A. Certainly, the sales data is what it is used for at the
49 moment and that is what its purpose was for setting up.
50 Yes, we will be able to use it for other things and, you
51 know, the accident information is one of them.
52
53 Q. If an electric bun toaster in one of the stores was
54 consistently giving electric shocks, what action would the
55 Company take, if any?
56 A. Well, after the first electric shock, it would be
57 visited by a technician and repaired, hopefully. This
58 should not get to a stage where we get consistent shocks
59 off one particular piece of equipment.
60
