Day 129 - 25 May 95 - Page 11


     
     1   Q.   Presumably, that was something that could have happened
     2        elsewhere in the country, which is why you changed
     3        the  -----
     4        A.  We had the ability to do that.  It also gives us other
     5        advantages in that it will do an automatic check on the way
     6        the fryer is working as well when it is switched on.  Now,
     7        we have that technology, we just feel we should be able to
     8        use it everywhere and, obviously, went to some trouble,
     9        time and expense to get that done.
    10
    11   Q.   So the confusion that arose was because there are lots of
    12        different beeps going off at different times?
    13        A.  We do not know.  We do not know the reason why they got
    14        mixed up.
    15
    16   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  That was your best judgment?
    17        A.  Yes.
    18
    19   Q.   What you thought the most likely reason was?
    20        A.  That is correct, sir.
    21
    22   MS. STEEL:  Are there beeps on other machines, apart from the
    23        Chicken McNuggets?
    24        A.  Yes, all the fryers -- if you want to call it a
    25        bleeper, yes -- an alarm, if you like, to tell you when the
    26        product is cooked.
    27
    28   Q.   That would be for the patties and chips and fries?
    29        A.  Yes, it also has visual advice as well.  When it is
    30        ready, it flashes on the front of the fry station that it
    31        is that particular basket that is ready to come out.
    32
    33   Q.   That was the new type?
    34        A.  No, they are all like that.  They all have some way of
    35        telling you it is ready.
    36
    37   Q.   Has that always been the case?
    38        A.  Yes.
    39
    40   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Does that mean that someone must have got
    41        confused about the bleeper and then taken the chicken
    42        McNuggets out, even though a light which should have been
    43        flashing had they been properly cooked, was not flashing?
    44        A.  It just means if they had looked at it and they had
    45        listened to it -- for some reason the action they then took
    46        was not the right one.  We do not know why because the
    47        difficulty is in talking to the crew member who was working
    48        on the station, they could not recall why they should have
    49        got it mixed up.
    50 
    51   Q.   I understand that but, as I understand what you are saying, 
    52        if they heard the bleeper correctly, identified the correct 
    53        bleeper, and looked and registered whether a light was
    54        flashing or not, this should not have happened?
    55        A.  Exactly.
    56
    57   Q.   But it did?
    58        A.  Yes.
    59
    60   Q.   You have not found any other explanation, and your surmise

Prev Next Index