Day 167 - 02 Oct 95 - Page 42


     
     1        service engineer must be called.  Temperatures are checked
     2        again at 2 p.m., 4 p.m. and towards the middle of the
     3        evening shift.  Freezer temperatures must also be checked
     4        around 8 a.m., 2 p.m., 6 p.m. and midnight to ensure that
     5        the raw product has not thawed or dehydrated.  In addition
     6        to receiving training in these procedures, staff are also
     7        encouraged to keep visual checks on products.
     8
     9        It is true that customers complain about uncooked
    10        products.  Logan is accurate in saying that such complaints
    11        are received approximately once a week.  However, it would
    12        be extremely rare for a complaint of this nature to be
    13        substantiated and again I would dispute Logan's claim that
    14        they are attributable to overcrowding of meat on the
    15        grill.
    16
    17        When complaints about product quality are received, it is
    18        standard practice to follow a set procedure.  The product
    19        must be examined and if undercooked placed in a plastic
    20        bag.  The Kitchen Manager should then be instructed to
    21        cease cooking that product and to throw away the remaining
    22        product.  Until the shift running Manager is completely
    23        satisfied that the product integrity is satisfactory, no
    24        further batches of that product are produced.
    25
    26        An investigation must then be conducted into cooking
    27        equipment, temperatures, cooking time, etc.  An incident
    28        report must be completed.  Managers are never too busy to
    29        do this since failure to do so is a disciplinary offence.
    30        All reports are sent to the local area management, who will
    31        decide whether a serious incident or series of incidents
    32        involving uncooked products should be investigated
    33        further.
    34
    35        The 'face lift' referred to by Logan cost around £200,000,
    36        not £350,000, as he suggests, and took place at the same
    37        time as the overhaul of the RCD system.
    38
    39        Logan's account of the grease trap incident does not
    40        coincide with my experience of McDonald's approach to
    41        health and safety hazards.  Firstly, I would say that a
    42        broken grease trap is unlikely to pose a real safety hazard
    43        since it is not possible to walk underneath the trap.  I am
    44        surprised by the allegation that a Manager said that the
    45        repair could not be afforded and that it would affect the
    46        'Profit and Loss', since the restaurant has a monthly
    47        maintenance, repair and reinvestment budget.  Repairs to a
    48        broken grease trap would not represent a high expense and
    49        could probably be carried out in any event by the
    50        restaurant's own repair man. 
    51 
    52        Logan's comments concerning chicken vats are also 
    53        inaccurate, like the grills, the vats were linked up to the
    54        RCD and so were subject to the same recurring fault.  The
    55        vats have now been replaced by a different model.  It would
    56        be obvious that a vat had 'tripped out', since the liquid
    57        would stop bubbling, all lights would go out and a loud
    58        clicking sound would be heard along with a strong 'whoosh'
    59        of air.  Since there is someone working at these vats
    60        constantly, it would be very difficult not to notice that

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