Day 085 - 08 Feb 95 - Page 15


     
     1         -- you know, if a RIDDOR accident occurred, we reported it
     2        into the appropriate position at that time, and we were
     3        concerned with the general operations of our restaurants
     4        and health and safety within our restaurants.
     5
     6   Q.   So you did not compare your accident rate with other areas?
     7        A.  No.
     8
     9   Q.   That would be, for example, a performance standard, would
    10        it not, where you say you set a standard for reducing
    11        accidents or comparing one region to another.  That would
    12        be something that would be quite useful, would it, in terms
    13        of ensuring that people were taking the issue seriously in
    14        every region?
    15        A.  I think better than that would be to cite examples of
    16        best practice and to change the way the company operated,
    17        or did a certain procedure would be more helpful than just
    18        saying "A is better than B", just a detail, you know,
    19        within the company, prioritising where accidents were and
    20        then someone probably in the Operations Development
    21        Department in the past decided on how we could address
    22        those areas.  But comparing region to region on how many
    23        accidents we had, I do not know if that was done but I
    24        certainly was not privy to any of that comparison.
    25
    26   Q.   It says in 4.10 that there were no formal procedures for
    27        the investigations of non-reportable injuries or near-miss
    28        accidents, "... though these would provide valuable lessons
    29        on preventing future accidents".  Is that true, that there
    30        is no formal procedure for investigation of non-reportable
    31        injuries?
    32        A.  It is not true, no, though there is a procedure for
    33        investigating certainly near-miss accidents.
    34
    35   Q.   Is that something that has been introduced then since this
    36        report?
    37        A.  It has been apparent to myself that when I was an
    38        Operations Manager that we should report near-miss
    39        accidents and that is, maybe, a lift fails or something
    40        like that which no-one is injured but is serious and that
    41        would be investigated.  So, I think it is very much to the
    42        fore of people's minds now.  It certainly happens now, that
    43        managers report near-misses.
    44
    45   Q.   Where it is talking about investigation -- when there is a
    46        RIDDOR accident is there an investigation?
    47        A.  Yes.
    48
    49   Q.   Every time, or is that just there may be depending on how
    50        serious it is or what? 
    51        A.  I believe because there is not a vast amount of them, 
    52        the majority would be investigated by the regional Health 
    53        and Safety officers; most definitely the most serious ones
    54        are.  I get informed of the serious ones by electronic mail
    55        in Head Office to keep me up-to-date with the current
    56        ones.  The regional Health and Safety Officers investigate
    57        as appropriate within the regions.
    58
    59   Q.   So it is not an automatic investigation; it depends on the
    60        seriousness?

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