The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has called for businesses to “turn over a new leaf” in 2015 and stop blaming poor customer service decisions on non-existent health and safety laws, following the publication of research into the work of the HSE’s Myth Busters Challenge Panel. The research found that 45% of all the myths examined were actually cases of poor customer service, and that the retail and leisure industries were especially prone to attempts to cover up poor customer service with claims of health and safety.

Deficiencies in staff training were also prominent, with nearly 40% of false claims of health and safety being caused by poor or inadequate training given to the staff member making the claim. A generic mindset of “better safe than sorry” was found in almost 60% of cases, particularly those cases of poor customer service, and this mindset was preventing any genuine analytical attempt to assess risks.