Day 094 - 01 Mar 95 - Page 52
1 A. No, I have not. The speed of the line has no effect on
2 this issue.
3
4 Q. What would happen then if there were faeces on the table?
5 A. On what table? I am sorry.
6
7 Q. You said you had seen faeces on the table.
8 A. Yes, when -- the stomach, entire stomach, is dropped
9 into a stainless table, then is removed the offal and goes
10 through a totally separate process. There is always hot
11 water running through that table that is constantly killing
12 all the bacteria and sanitizing the table.
13
14 Q. But meat also goes over that table?
15 A. The meat goes, it is a thoroughly different and
16 separate pathway, a thoroughly different process.
17
18 Q. Were you aware of Montfort being slapped with notices of
19 197 violations of safety rules by the Federal Occupational
20 Safety and Health Administration?
21 A. No, I was not.
22
23 Q. Would it concern you -----
24
25 MR. RAMPTON: My Lord, I am sorry. This has to do with employee
26 safety, as far as I can see. McDonald's could not
27 conceivably be thought to have any responsibility for the
28 safety of employees in either their immediate or their
29 distant suppliers.
30
31 MS. STEEL: It has a relevance because if things are going so
32 fast that workers are getting injuries, it may affect the
33 hygiene as well.
34
35 MR. RAMPTON: Then that is the question to ask, not whether he
36 is aware of environmental ------
37
38 MS. STEEL: I was starting to ask by asking whether he was aware
39 of it.
40
41 MR. JUSTICE BELL (To the witness): In any event, do you know
42 anything about notices of violation of Federal Safety Rules
43 being served on Montfort?
44 A. Was I aware of them? No.
45
46 MS. STEEL: Would it concern you if that was correct?
47 A. In what sense?
48
49 Q. Would it concern you that the company your meat was coming
50 from seemed to have these -----
51
52 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Put it this way: Would you be concerned if
53 the pressure of the work was such that there was a high
54 rates of injuries and strains to the workers, the thrust of
55 it being that if they are working under such stress that
56 there are going to be slips so far as hygiene is concerned?
57 A. Would I be concerned? Yes.
58
59 MS. STEEL: Is that something that the company looks into in
60 respect of where its meat comes from? Does it look into a
