Day 128 - 24 May 95 - Page 10
1 themselves?
2 A. For the trials, certainly, they did not. We never got
3 to make a decision on that because we decided not to go
4 ahead.
5
6 Q. Right. They could probably, if they were not wearing the
7 shoes outside, keep them clean fairly easily?
8 A. I am not referring to clean on the top. I am referring
9 to what they might pick up on the bottom of the shoes as
10 they are working in the restaurant. For example, dust or,
11 perhaps, some shortening off the floor. If that gets
12 picked up on the bottom of the shoes, then it negates their
13 slip resistance.
14
15 Q. But in terms of comparisons with other shoes, is it likely
16 to make it worse than with other shoes?
17 A. It depends what you are comparing them against,
18 I suppose.
19
20 Q. Of course, it would have cost a lot of money to get
21 non-slip shoes for all the crew members, would it not?
22 A. It certainly would have cost some money, yes. It also
23 cost a lot of money to put the slip resistant floors in.
24
25 Q. You did not feel it was worth providing non-slip shoes for
26 all the crew?
27 A. Because of the reasons I explained, we decided it was
28 not a practical option, and that going with the floors was
29 a much better way to go. It was easier to put a cleaning
30 regime into the restaurants to keep those slip resistant
31 floors clean than to ask the crew to maintain the soles of
32 their shoes.
33
34 Q. The floors of restaurants are supposed to be kept clean,
35 are they not?
36 A. Exactly, so the regime was in place anyway.
37
38 Q. So there should not be any reason why crew members would be
39 frequently getting large amounts of shortening on their
40 shoes, or something like that?
41 A. I am not talking of large amounts, but I am afraid in
42 the real world, as much as we try to keep our floors as
43 clean as possible, there is going to get dirt and debris
44 and occasionally things like shortening spilt on the floor.
45
46 Q. Occasionally?
47 A. I should imagine as part of the day-to-day running of
48 the restaurant.
49
50 Q. So you think it would happen every day -----
51
52 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Answer that.
53
54 MS. STEEL: So you think it would happen every day?
55 A. If a crew member came into our restaurant and wore
56 shoes, they would pick something on up on their shoes from
57 the floor and, not spending all of their time in the
58 kitchen -- part of it is the back up areas, might be doing
59 a delivery, they would probably be walking on the dining
60 area at some stage, as well -- I just do not feel it would
