Day 128 - 24 May 95 - Page 28


     
     1        description?
     2        A.  Yes, that is right.
     3
     4   MS. STEEL:   You said yesterday about the operations and
     5        training manual; there is not an English equivalent in the
     6        same format?
     7        A.  As the operations and training manual, yes.  There is a
     8        health and safety manual now.
     9
    10   Q.   When you said "in the same format", is there an operations
    11        and training manual in another format?
    12        A.  No, there is not really.  That is used for all the
    13        basic Operations information, and then there would be,
    14        perhaps, a breakfast procedures document, or a meat care
    15        manual, so we add things on that, sort of, bring out the
    16        differences that we have here in the UK.
    17
    18   Q.   What is this health and safety manual?
    19        A.  It is something that we introduced as part of our
    20        commitment to the Health and Safety Executive.
    21
    22   Q.   In response to their report?
    23        A.  That is correct.
    24
    25   Q.   Right.
    26        A.  It was not in existence at the time of the report.
    27
    28   Q.   Was there anything similar, or, at that time, were people
    29        expected to rely on the American operations and training
    30        manual?
    31        A.  At the time health and safety information was all in
    32        the policy document that we went through yesterday, the one
    33        that is laminated and posted, that is then in the personnel
    34        policies and procedure manual, but there was not a specific
    35        health and safety manual.
    36
    37   Q.   That was the one that was dated April 1991?
    38        A.  The one we looked at yesterday, yes.
    39
    40   Q.   You said yesterday that it is not possible to stop all
    41        accidents, but you could cut them down by a huge amount,
    42        could you not, if you got rid of hustle and told employees
    43        not to work at speed; expressly told them:  "Do not work at
    44        speed".
    45        A.  There is no evidence from the RIDDOR statistics that we
    46        keep, and the accidents investigation forms we get in, that
    47        running and rushing is a significant contribution factor.
    48        In fact, I suppose several times over the years, I have
    49        gone through the slips and falls accidents, in particular,
    50        to see if could I pick out the ones that, where people were 
    51        running, and invariably they are walking. It specifically 
    52        says in the information we were given from store they were 
    53        walking.  You could argue that that information is wrong,
    54        but it does not seem to come out in the reportable
    55        accidents that the "hustle" part of it has played a
    56        significant factor.  That is not to say there is not the
    57        odd accident where we will have identified that, yes,
    58        perhaps they were running.
    59
    60   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  I do not think Ms. Steel's question was

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