Day 132 - 07 Jun 95 - Page 39


     
     1        perfectly prepared to say what I have just said.  I do not
     2        see any grounds for that allegation.
     3
     4   Q.   Going down to the Venice Labrest, 19, who described how she
     5        fell off a ladder in the stock room but "had to carry on
     6        working", you say:  "Patently, if she had been injured she
     7        would not have been able to continue work"?
     8        A.  Absolutely.
     9
    10   Q.   So you have never known anybody in your vast experience, no
    11        employee, who ever carried on working while having some
    12        kind of injury?
    13        A.  I did not say that at all.
    14
    15   Q.   You said "patently" as if it is a contradiction in terms?
    16        A.  It is fairly self-evident, that if somebody has been
    17        injured they cannot carry on moving stock and so on and so
    18        forth.
    19
    20   Q.   So you have never known that, in your experience ---
    21        A.  I have known ---
    22
    23   Q.   -- for someone to continue working while injured?
    24        A.  -- I known people come back to work with broken legs.
    25        I have done it myself with a broken arm.  You come back and
    26        do light duties, restricted duties, or whatever, or as much
    27        as much as your disability will allow you to do so.
    28
    29   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  All that is being put to you is that she
    30        complained she had to carry on working when she did not
    31        feel she was fit to do so.  What is suggested is that your
    32        comment, "Patently, if she had been injured she would not
    33        have been able to continue work" just is not necessarily
    34        right, because people who ought to stop work after an
    35        injury, and whose managers ought to tell them they must not
    36        work, do work on despite the injury?
    37        A.  I think, with the benefit of hindsight, it could have
    38        been better phrased, my Lord.  The point I am making is
    39        that if somebody was injured and injured severely, or
    40        whatever it may be, under normal circumstances, there would
    41        be treatment and they would not be able to continue with
    42        the physical task.  You would need to know details of the
    43        injury and so on, so, yes, I would agree it could have been
    44        better phrased, my Lord.
    45
    46   MR. MORRIS:  In fact, is it not standard practice to recognise
    47        that people may suffer from shock or trauma after an
    48        accident and that it is very important to recognise that?
    49        A.  Well, it depends on the degree of accident but, yes,
    50        certainly, if they have had a serious injury or even 
    51        observed a serious injury, there can be shock as part and 
    52        parcel of it.  Obviously, one would have to be very careful 
    53        with that, but you are talking about training.
    54
    55   Q.   I will not finish this before lunch.
    56
    57   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Let us pause there.  Thank you, Mr. Purslow.
    58        What time do you want to resume, if you have to look at
    59        that document?
    60

Prev Next Index