Day 131 - 06 Jun 95 - Page 16

     
     1        feasible to alter the type of flooring.  Secondly, you have
     2        to look at the cleaning of the floor to see if there was
     3        any build-up of grease on the floor, cleaning schedules,
     4        and so on and so forth.  You will also need to concern
     5        yourself about the work and the layout because, obviously,
     6        the less people that have to move around, the better.
     7        Also, you have to concern yourself about the footwear that
     8        people use.
     9
    10   Q.   Can I break that down?  Mrs. Barnes told us -- you have
    11        read Mrs. Barnes' transcript, have you not?
    12        A.  Yes, I have.
    13
    14   Q.   I think you have also read Mr. John Atherton's evidence?
    15        A.  Yes, I have.
    16
    17   Q.   Mrs. Barnes told us, I think it was, that they were trying
    18        out or have started to use a floor surface call A-L-T-R-O?
    19        A.  Yes.
    20
    Q.   What exactly is that?
    22        A.  Its full name is Altro Safety Flooring.  It is a
    23        patented film; I suppose it is best explained as like a
    24        fairly thick type of linoleum.  I do not know whether that
    25        is a term that is in current usage.  Set into are tiny
    26        fragments of aluminium, which gives it a slightly shiny
    27        effect, which gives it very good slip-resistant
    28        properties.  So it is widely used in the catering industry
    29        for specific application.
    30
    31   Q.   Does it have any drawbacks?
    32        A.  Yes.  It is not heat resistant, so you cannot put hot
    33        pans on it, or whatever.  If you put it under a cooker, for
    34        instance, you will get scorch marks.  Because it is a film
    35        which has to be applied directly to a floor, if the seal is
    36        not correct -- you obviously have to use deep cleaning
    37        techniques -- and water gets down behind it, it begins to
    38        lift.  So it has advantages and disadvantages.
    39
    40   Q.   Can you think of any floor surface, given the nature of
         their business, which McDonald's might be better advised to
    42        employ?
    43        A.  No, I could not.  I have actually sat in on working
    44        parties over the years, with more than one company, trying
    45        to find an ideal floor.  It is, at best, a compromise, and
    46        it is a problem the whole industry suffers from.
    47
    48   Q.   Let us move from floor surfaces to shoes.  First, this
    49        question:  is there, so far as you know, a type of shoe
    50        which is the best possible shoe to prevent one from 
    51        slipping and falling over in an operation such as 
    52        McDonald's? 
    53        A.  No.  One talks about slip resistant shoes.  It varies
    54        under different types of conditions underfoot.
    55
    56   Q.   Let us take what may occur to us layman as an obvious
    57        possibility:  a shoe with a rubber or plastic sole with
    58        some kind of pleating or bobbling on the bottom?
    59        A.  Yes.  The problem there is, if you got any grease or
    60        water on it, it can slip very easily, in fact.