In Reply to: Re: A fatal accident in Australia posted by annon on January 16, 1997 at 11:29:44:
Still wrong.I have found out since posting my last message in here that the
accident was caused by a pin prick in an electrical cable.
The pin prick was so tiny that had the accident never have
occured an electrican looking at the cable would have never
have even seen it.The main reason why this poor person got electorcuted was
because he was not following the correct procedures for
cleaning behind the grill. All our thoroughly detailed in
equipment manuals and soc's.And the person should have known the correct procedures because
he was once a casual manager from another store. the fact was
he was trying to short cut and it cost him his life. this is a
painful way to point out that there is no "quick and easy" way
to do anything!You do have a good point though. This should not be swept under
the carpet. This horrible incident gave Mcd's Australia a wakeup
call. Oz tries its best at all times to be the best. The US McD's
is just screwed up and there is not much that can be done for them.
but in oz we are honestly tring our best to be the best.pls help us and keep on writing to places like this with critisim or praise
which is constructive. which we can use to better your next visit.THANKS
______________________
McSpotlight replies:
The eletrocution death refered to in the last McSpotlight reply
was that of Mark Hopkins, a floor
manager at a store in Manchester, UK.
We are aware of the Australian death but have few details about it.In the case of the UK death, it was revealed during the McLibel trial, that an internal
company memo had gone to all restaurants in the region, warning about the faulty equipment and
the fact that a number of workers had been receiving electric shocks. However, despite the warning,
nothing was done about the problem untill it after Mark had been killed.Here is an extract from the reports on the closing speeches (day 302)
HEALTH AND SAFETY AT WORK - Mr Morris then talked about the death of Mark Hopkins, a floor
manager at a store in Manchester, UK, who was killed by an electric shock from a piece of faulty
equipment in October 1992. Shortly before his death a McDonald's memo went to all stores in the
northwest region, saying, "there have been several recent incidents in our restaurants where members
of staff have received severe shocks from faulty items of electrical equipment." Mr Morris pointed out
that it seems that faulty equipment was not only a general problem, but also that it was known to be a
general problem, in that region at least. Mr Morris claimed that the evidence had clearly shown the
McDonald's was responsible for Mark Hopkins death. Manchester Council's Environmental Health Dept
had issued a prohibition notice on the store for failing to have a 'Residual Current Device' in a kitchen area,
an offence. McDonald's then hurriedly installed such devices nationally. Mr Morris reminded the court that
the company's own confidential investigation (which had not been given to the coroner or the inquest jury)
had catalogued a number of company failures and problems and had made the damming conclusion that
"safety is not seen as being important at store level. Their Safety Officer had accepted the findings
when in the witness box."