Day 132 - 07 Jun 95 - Page 26
1 out" about four times year?
2 A. It may do; it depends on the number of food premises;
3 depends on the size of the McDonald's and so on, but
4 certainly you would look for an annual inspection and
5 across 600 stores, or whatever it is now. That is
6 400 -----
7
8 MR. JUSTICE BELL: She said there were 300 local authorities
9 that McDonald's stores covered?
10 A. Yes, that is right.
11
12 Q. She thought they were getting conflicting advice from
13 different EHOs; that was one of the reasons for welcoming
14 the HSE investigation?
15 A. Indeed, my Lord. That is a problem that has been --
16 that certainly the Chartered Institute of Environmental
17 Health have attempted to tackle which is conflicting
18 interpretation of legislation, and they have set up a body
19 specifically to study that. I can well see that Jill would
20 feel that an HSE investigation and the fact that they have
21 been able to take positive steps in response to it would
22 show local authorities that McDonald's are forward-thinking
23 and are reacting appropriately. So I can well see that
24 that would have been useful.
25
26 MR. MORRIS: On page 5 of your statement -- it is an obvious
27 question, really -- the fact that other top companies --
28 this is in your top paragraph there -- may have flaws in
29 the implementation of their systems does not absolve
30 McDonald's in any way, does it, if they have flaws?
31 A. I made the point that all companies tend to look and
32 move forward. Obviously, that would not absolve
33 McDonald's, if they have got problems.
34
35 Q. If we go to page 6, of these -- I will not go through each
36 one -- if we look in the middle under Management and
37 Employee Training: "All employees given training upon
38 joining the Company since 1974"?
39 A. Yes.
40
41 Q. That would be normal though in any company, would it not,
42 that people would have to be trained to do a job?
43 A. Would that it were so.
44
45 Q. But in general?
46 A. Most companies make a statement that they give their
47 new employees induction training and so on. In practice,
48 it is extremely variable and many companies either do not
49 have a properly structured system or people fall through
50 it, or whatever. It is not universal.
51
52 Q. The training there applies to all matters, does it not?
53 A. I am sorry?
54
55 Q. The training there, you are not saying they were
56 specifically given specialist safety training?
57 A. No.
58
59 Q. It is general training?
60 A. Safety has been included in the induction package
