Day 179 - 30 Oct 95 - Page 13
1 containers to put the old fat into, so it was poured down
2 the sinks. This caused the drains to block; and I can
3 remember on at least two occasions sewage coming up through
4 the floor vents in the kitchen area and being mopped out of
5 the way whilst we were working. On one occasion, it was
6 actually, as I say in my statement, two inches deep; and we
7 had got bun trays which are about four inches high, turned
8 them upside down and stood on those in the kitchen area, so
9 that the store could stay open.
10
11 MR. MORRIS: Why would you want the store to stay open?
12 A. To keep the takings -----
13
14 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Just pause. You must watch my pen.
15
16 MR. MORRIS: Sorry. I am trying.
17
18 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Yes. You are not being hurried to get
19 through this, so just watch my pen and do not ask another
20 question until I give you a nod, because it is important
21 that I get it down.
22
23 MR. JUSTICE BELL: (Pause) Yes.
24
25 MR. MORRIS: Sorry. You were standing on these trays on top of
26 the sewage. What were you doing on top of these trays?
27 A. Cooking. People at the grills, people on the toasters
28 and people putting the condiments into the burgers, they
29 would all be standing on them.
30
31 Q. You said this started with the fat filtering machine being
32 broken?
33 A. That is right.
34
35 Q. What did the Company do about this?
36 A. About the fat filtering machine?
37
38 Q. Yes.
39 A. They did not want to buy one, because it would have
40 taken the expenses for equipment over the allowed
41 percentage. So they held it off for two or three months,
42 held off purchasing it.
43
44 Q. Sorry, what do you mean, the "allowed percentage"?
45
46 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Did you say the -- yes.
47 A. Everything, as far as I can remember, had an allowed
48 percentage, be it the amount you spend on equipment, on
49 cleaning materials or staff; and this was just one of the
50 things. There was a certain percentage allowed for
51 spending on equipment; and a filtering machine would be a
52 fairly major expenditure, a few hundred pounds; not a
53 massive amount, but enough to cause the budget to go over.
54
55 Q. Just moving on, you said something about burns and cuts a
56 bit earlier on. Was there an Injury Accident Book, and
57 what happened regarding that?
58 A. There was. It was by the safe, but it was rarely
59 used. People considered a small cut or a burn part of the
60 job and did not report it. Obviously, sometimes they were
