Day 084 - 07 Feb 95 - Page 29
1
2 Q. Is your position this, that the company merely responds to
3 incidents of that kind or that it takes what one might call
4 a more accurate stance in relation to matters of food
5 safety?
6 A. The essence of my job is proactive in that we are
7 seeking out ways to improve our current methods of food
8 safety. Occasionally, when an incident arises we it may
9 refocus a priority for us, but the general work ethic
10 within that department is to work out and to seek out ways
11 to improve before any incidents happen.
12
13 Q. Is that one of the things that you personally do?
14 A. More so in Operations Development when I was the
15 Operations Development Manager, but of the four areas it is
16 the area that I take a more keen interest. Of the four
17 areas I am responsible for now, operations development is
18 the area I seem to spend most time in.
19
20 Q. We know that in this case -- nobody disputes it -- it is
21 the cooking of the product which is really the essential
22 thing in seeking to ensure food safety.
23 A. Yes.
24
25 Q. That involves both temperature and time. I am not going to
26 ask you anything about that at all, but I do want to ask
27 you this: What about the general hygiene of the
28 restaurants, the services, the implements, the human beings
29 that work there; is that important?
30 A. It is important, yes.
31
32 Q. Do you look at ways of improving that aspect of matters?
33 A. We do. We are looking at a number of ways to improve
34 hand-washing, effectiveness of hand-washing. We have
35 projects on the go now that may come in that will prove to
36 be more efficient.
37
38 Q. How seriously -- forgive me if this seems an offensive
39 question but it is one which the Defendants raised by their
40 Defence and so I am going to ask you -- do you take the
41 safety of your customers in relation to the food that they
42 eat at your restaurants?
43 A. It is of paramount importance. It could not be more
44 important.
45
46 Q. Do you feel any pressure within the organisation to cut
47 corners in relation to food safety in order to increase
48 profitability?
49 A. No.
50
51 Q. How often, if ever, I know not, do you get a queasy feeling
52 in your job that perhaps your procedures are risking the
53 health of your customers?
54 A. I do not think ever do I get a queasy feeling that our
55 procedures are risking the health of our customers.
56
57 Q. Have you read the statement, second statement, of
58 Mr. Richard North, the witness for the Defendants, who
59 visited one of your restaurants, I think, in Leeds?
60 A. Yes.
