Day 130 - 26 May 95 - Page 61
1 in deciding what is correct for that particular restaurant.
2
3 Q. So you are quite happy that if managers tell you everything
4 in the garden is rosy, then, as far as under-staffing is
5 concerned, you are willing to accept that?
6 A. Well, I am not saying they are telling me everything is
7 rosey. What I am saying is they are the ones on spot who
8 are empowered to make sure they have the right amount of
9 people on site.
10
11 Q. You are the one who is preparing national risk management
12 practices and education for the whole Company. If all
13 managers tell you they do travel paths and all managers
14 tell you they do safety, they are very concerned about
15 safety, you are not going to take that as read, are you?
16 You are going to say: "Well, is it happening in practice?
17 Are you doing this? Are you doing that?" but you are not
18 prepared to do that about under-staffing?
19 A. I am out in restaurants once or twice a week. I cannot
20 think of any examples, certainly recently, where I have
21 been in a restaurant where they appeared to be under
22 pressure because, perhaps, there are more customers than
23 expected even, never mind under-scheduling which you seem
24 to be inferring there. If I thought it were a problem,
25 yes, of course, I would raise it, but I do not.
26
27 Q. Are you concerned as the person responsible for risk
28 management, forward planning and education, about the
29 targeted labour cost percentages set for each store to keep
30 labour costs down below a certain percentage? Would that
31 concern you in terms of potential safety implications?
32 A. It depends how they were worked out. I cannot
33 tell ----
34
35 Q. Do you know about it?
36 A. I cannot tell with a particular store. It may be
37 something that my regional people would get involved in,
38 but it is something really for the local area management
39 with the Restaurant Managers to decide what is the proper
40 amount of staff to run that restaurant. To be honest,
41 look, there is no advantage to us in under-staffing because
42 all it means is that we are basically turning customers
43 away. One of the keys of managing correctly, is to make
44 sure you have adequate staff there for the number of
45 customers.
46
47 Q. Yes, and it is one of your jobs, is it not, to educate the
48 Company about potential risks and practices that might lead
49 to risks to do with safety, and have you looked into how
50 the targeted labour guidelines, labour cost guidelines, are
51 working?
52
53 MR. RAMPTON: My Lord, I must intervene. Mr. Morris is asking
54 Mrs. Barnes when she stopped beating her husband. There
55 has been no evidence in court that there is any such a
56 general target. The evidence has been consistent that there
57 is not. I know of no evidence that there is.
58
59 MR. JUSTICE BELL: It is still a matter which is up for debate;
60 I will have to see what all the evidence is.
