Day 131 - 06 Jun 95 - Page 34

     
     1        So I am not quite sure where the description "insulated
     2        handle" came from.
     3
     4   Q.   We will have to see about that.  The second thing I wanted
     5        to ask you was this:  we know (as I expect you do) that
     6        following that Mark Hopkins' incident and a prohibition or
     7        enforcement notice from the Manchester Authority ---
     8        A.  Yes.
     9
    10   Q.   -- McDonald's installed, not just in the Manchester area
    11        but throughout the country, circuit breakers?
    12        A.  Yes.
    13
    14   Q.   Are you conscious of that?
    15        A.  Yes, I am.
    16
    17   Q.   In their existing systems?
    18        A.  Yes.
    19
    20   Q.   Do you know of any other similar company that has done that
         sort of thing with their electrical equipment?
    22        A.  I do not know of any company that has gone out of its
    23        way to retrofit existing systems.  A number of
    24        organisations have said, when they are developing new
    25        kitchens, or whatever, they would build it in.  But it has
    26        never been seen as something that would be installed
    27        widely.
    28
    29   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  That was for mobile equipment?
    30        A.  Well, yes, indeed.  But to do it for mobile equipment,
    31        you have to insulate the whole circuit, my Lord, because
    32        obviously mobile equipment can go into any socket.
    33
    34   MR. RAMPTON:  At the bottom of page 21, a comment, Mr. Purslow,
    35        on a statement by a Mr. T. McDonald, you said:
    36
    37        "I agree  with the generality of his brief comments.
    38        However, the final point, which includes the sufficiency of
    39        health risk assessments, has only been a requirement since
    40        1st January 1993, and McDonald's were one of the first
         national companies to complete a risk assessment."
    42
    43        Two questions about that.  That is a legal requirement, is
    44        it?
    45        A.  Yes.  It was introduced in the Management of Health and
    46        Safety at Work Regulations that came into force on
    47        1st January, 1993, and were only published in
    48        December 1992.  So there was no leading period for that.
    49
    50   Q.   What is the basis for your second part of that statement, 
    51        your statement that McDonald's are one of the first 
    52        national companies to complete a risk assessment; what does 
    53        it mean?
    54        A.  As soon as the regulations were declared, Jill Barnes
    55        said that we must take action on this, and we drafted a
    56        system, or put a system together, which she then went on,
    57        with her normal vigour, to complete throughout the
    58        Company.
    59
    60        I have been dealing with national companies before and