Day 070 - 20 Dec 94 - Page 27
1 MR. JUSTICE BELL: The way it is set out, it looks as if one is
2 the more frequent.
3
4 MR. RAMPTON: One would suspect from the nature of the
5 occupation that that is probably right. Also, when one
6 looks at severity, one would suspect that burns are
7 probably, apart from the odd break, the most serious.
8
9 MR. JUSTICE BELL: In order to have a league table like this --
10 because they are initially set out in rankings by frequency
11 in relation to each section, and then they are ranked by
12 severity, and not necessarily in the same order, though
13 I notice that with the first one or two they, by and large,
14 are more severe as they are more frequent. But this must
15 have come from somewhere, must it not? There must be a
16 hard copy analysis, I would have thought, from which
17 someone has made this final, simple analysis.
18
19 MR. RAMPTON: It may be that there is; it may be that there is
20 not. I cannot answer that. We can certainly find out
21 about that. I am not anxious not to produce American
22 statistics in any sense at all.
23
24 MR. MORRIS: I am talking about UK.
25
26 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Yes. We are talking about both. But let
27 Mr. Rampton develop this issue.
28
29 MR. RAMPTON: I am not anxious not to produce US or UK accident
30 statistics. I repeat what I said before -- indeed, I think
31 what I said when I opened this case -- namely, that in a
32 business of this kind it is regrettable but inevitable that
33 accidents will happen. It is for that reason that I say
34 I do not regard this as one of leading issues in the case.
35
36 What is much more important, in our submission -- and I do
37 have a reason for saying all this -- is what steps
38 McDonald's take, as responsible employers, to keep
39 accidents to a minimum.
40
41 Your Lordship will remember that when originally this
42 question arose, your Lordship was disinclined to order any
43 statistics at all and was originally inclined to throw the
44 Defendants back on the evidence that they, themselves, were
45 able to introduce which, as your Lordship will recall, is
46 pretty flimsy.
47
48 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Yes. I have to say that the germ of a change
49 of heart came when you said, "All they have been able to
50 throw up was X numbers", in your opening.
51
52 MR. RAMPTON: I take the blame. But what, in my submission,
53 would not be right is for your Lordship to compel the
54 Plaintiffs to spend a large amount of time and money --
55 this was certainly your Lordship's indication on the last
56 occasion this was discussed -- producing a summary, or
57 whatever, or, indeed, the documents themselves (if they
58 exist) for an issue which, for the reasons perhaps that
59 I have outlined, does not take a place in the forefront of
60 this case.
