Day 131 - 06 Jun 95 - Page 79


     
     1        there is a hot surface there?  We know that in any case.
     2        This is a question of looking at conditions and asking
     3        where conditions could be improved.  We all know that if
     4        you put your hand on a cooker you will burn yourself.
     5        That, of course, is why people are trained in a set
     6        procedure.
     7
     8   Q.   The reality is, though, is it not, Mr. Purslow, that the
     9        cooking of the products is the front line of the McDonald's
    10        operation and the Company does not want to do anything
    11        which would slow down or inhibit its work force from
    12        performing that task as quickly as possible ---
    13        A.  No, the reality is, Mr. Morris ---
    14
    15   Q.  -- for the benefit of the customer?
    16        A.  -- that you do not seem to be able to make any comment
    17        on the previous point I made.
    18
    19   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  No, you cannot, I am sorry.  You just answer
    20        the questions.
    21        A.  I do not accept that as a statement.  I do not accept
    22        that as a basic.  As I say again, any organisation is about
    23        producing its product speedily, efficiently, safely and to
    24        the quality the customer wants.  McDonald's is no different
    25        in this respect than any other competent organisation, as
    26        its success shows.
    27
    28   MR. MORRIS:  I have just one more question.  When you commented
    29        in your statement -- you do not have to get it out, I will
    30        read it to you anyway; for the record, it is page 13 of the
    31        statement -- about Karen Anstee, a Defendants' witness, it
    32        referred to vats of boiling oil and grills at extremely
    33        high temperatures ---
    34        A.  Yes.
    35
    36   Q.   -- as a concern, a safety concern.  Your response was:
    37         "Firstly, deep fat fryers are used throughout the industry
    38        and, secondly, grills do tend to be hot otherwise they do
    39        not cook.  As anyone who has ever cooked will tell you,
    40        minor burns are endemic in the industry".  I put it to you
    41        that that sarcastic response, "As anyone who has ever
    42        cooked will tell you, minor burns are endemic in the
    43        industry" and grills do tend to be hot, as if Karen Anstee
    44        is an idiot, is because she is actually pointing out
    45        something that McDonald's cannot change, which is that it
    46        is hazardous to work with hot oil and high temperature
    47        grills, and nothing McDonald's can do is going to affect
    48        that fact?
    49        A.  I am pointing out there is a difference between a deep
    50        fat fryer and a vat of boiling oil, which certainly sounds 
    51        rather different to the reality, which is that you have a 
    52        cooker of that size with a deep fat fryer that is used 
    53        throughout industry.  Certainly, hot surfaces can burn --
    54        that is accepted -- but that is an endemic part of the
    55        cooking process, and that is the point I was making and the
    56        point I would reiterate to yourself; unless you are going
    57        to stop cooking things, you are always going to have minor
    58        burns.
    59
    60   MR. MORRIS:  May that be a good time to stop?

Prev Next Index