Day 132 - 07 Jun 95 - Page 18


     
     1        essence, my whole career, my whole professional career, is
     2        about protecting people and that continues now.
     3
     4   Q.   You said that if a company is system-orientated such as
     5        McDonald's ---
     6        A.  Yes.
     7
     8   Q.   -- and if it feeds health and safety into its system ---
     9        A.  Yes.
    10
    11   Q.   -- then the fact that it is system-orientated would make it
    12        easier to -----
    13        A.  It can speed up the implementation process.  If people
    14        are used to acting on systems and to having a prescribed
    15        system, if you feed health and safety into that normal
    16        course of action, yes, you make faster progress.
    17
    18   Q.   Because it is system-orientated, the converse would also
    19        apply, that if there are problems, if there are safety
    20        problems, they would also be endemic because of the
    21        systematic nature of the Company?
    22        A.  No, I could not ----
    23
    24   Q.   If there are -----
    25        A.  I could not accept that.  Can you be more specific?
    26
    27   Q.   If there is a problem in one store with a particular type
    28        of machine or a particular job, then it is likely to be a
    29        national problem ---
    30        A.  That would be true ---
    31
    32   Q.   -- because of the system nature of the company?
    33        A.  -- that would be true if, for instance, there is a
    34        design fault in one unit, obviously, it is going to be
    35        replicated in those of that type.  That, of course, is why
    36        there is a design group studying just those sort of
    37        aspects.
    38
    39   Q.   If there is a particular problem with the culture of the
    40        company, it is likely to apply systematically across the
    41        company?
    42
    43   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  If you think that you are going to have
    44        evidence in due course of, forget hustle -- I do not mean
    45        forget it permanently, but leave it on one side for the
    46        moment because we have been through that, but if there is
    47        something else, some particular machine, some particular
    48        practice which you say is unsafe at McDonald's and,
    49        therefore, by its system of consistency will be propagated
    50        throughout all the stores, then put it to Mr. Purslow. 
    51 
    52   MR. MORRIS:  There is just one thing I wanted to clear up from 
    53        my notes.  If we can get the Colchester document out, it is
    54        behind your statement.
    55
    56   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Do you mean the accident book?
    57
    58   MR. MORRIS:  No.  It is the Colchester letters that were put
    59        behind his own statement.
    60

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