Staff at Waitrose supermarket have refused to fillet a fish for a customer on health and safety grounds, stating that the fish was too slippery. Health and safety is often cited in order to avoid doing something, but this excuse, it has been suggested, may simply have been a cover up for poor customer service.
It is reported that the assistant at the fish counter had agreed to fillet the fish for the customer, but their supervisor then stepped in and said it couldn't be done on health and safety grounds as the fish was too slippery. However, the customer also noted that the supermarket's website states that the customer must only ask if they wanted their fish skinned or filleted.
This story caught the eye of the Health and Safety Executive's (HSE) Myth Busters Challenge Panel, which said that slippery fish was a fact of life and that their view is "that this is yet another example of poor customer service hiding behind the health and safety excuse."
