Day 131 - 06 Jun 95 - Page 19
1 Q. Have you?
2 A. Yes, indeed, I have.
3
4 Q. What, in your view, if any, is the value of safety circles?
5 A. Well, first and foremost, anything that gets safety
6 talked about is valuable. That is the first point: it
7 puts it on the agenda. But, secondly, a safety circle
8 becomes a method of (to use the legal expression) joint
9 consultation, so it opens up a channel of communication on
10 safety. So it makes a contribution, I would have thought,
11 to the overall safety culture.
12
13 Q. It is true in this country, at least, that McDonald's are
14 not -- horrid word, but you know what I mean -- unionised?
15 A. So I understand, yes.
16
17 Q. Do you feel that the absence of a union safety
18 representative from a McDonald's restaurant confers a
19 disadvantage on the employees?
20 A. I would not consider so, no. I have worked with many
21 union safety representatives over the years in different
22 organisations, and I will continue to do so.
23
24 Q. Will you explain why it is that you feel that?
25 A. A safety representative -- and the whole point of a
26 safety representative and safety committees' regulations
27 was to establish a means of joint consultation between the
28 employer and the employees and to establish that channel.
29 Now, if you have the sort of culture where that channel is
30 established in any way, and people do raise issues and talk
31 about things like safety, then I do not necessarily see the
32 need for a union-appointed safety representative.
33
34 MR. RAMPTON: As I promised, Mr. Purslow, a very few documents;
35 the first one is at 57Q of that file.
36
37 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Do you have any knowledge of your own about
38 the extent to which accidents are better reported, if at
39 all, where there is a union safety representative?
40 A. I do not think I would have anything useful to add.
41 I have come across factories where there is a union
42 presence and safety reporting has been lamentable, I can
43 certainly say. But it would not be fair for me to
44 generalise.
45
46 MR. RAMPTON: Put it this way, Mr. Purslow -- I may be asking
47 you to repeat yourself, but never mind -- looked at with
48 your professional expert eye, do you think McDonald's
49 employees would be better off from a health and safety
50 point of view if they had a union representative to look
51 after them on health and safety matters?
52 A. No, I do not.
53
54 Q. 57Q is, I hope, a folding out document in colour.
55 A. Yes.
56
57 Q. Have you seen this before?
58 A. Yes.
59
60 Q. Then I need not go through it. It is headed "Accidents and
