Posted By Dave Whitfield I don't know the details of the case you refer to, but I believe that a manager in Wrexham Council was prosecuted by the HSE after he was found guilty of a safety breach. The council were looked at first but cleared of any involvement as they had the required procedures in place, and it was the manager who chose to ignore them. I believe the case involved the collapse of a trench in which an employee received crush injuries. I hope this helps. Regards Dave Whitfield.

Posted By Michelle Driscoll Courtesy of www.safetynews.co.uk Health and safety adviser made 'a scapegoat for the failings of the company' Charles Helmrich, employed as H&S Manager of the restaurant chain Fatty Arbuckles, has been successfully prosecuted by Lincoln City Council for a breach of Section 7 of the Health and Safety at Work Act in the circumstances of the death of restaurant employee Mark Thorne, 17, who was electrocuted at a restaurant in Lincoln in 1998. Mr Helmrich who denied the charge, was fined £3,000 with £3,000 costs. Mr Thorne was employed as kitchen assistant and was electrocuted as he moved a defective plate warmer. Other employees had reported shocks from the item but no action was taken, a matter attributed to communication problems involving local management. Mr Helmrich was never notified of the problem.

Posted By Robert K Lewis Some of the reports refer to him as a former company executive for Arbuckles so I presume this was the point at which the EH people started. It does feel like an attempt to make things fit though and I wonder if this work was being taken on in some form of consultancy contract manner post "retirement". It seems as though he was making definitive decisions not to undertake risk assessments which would normally lead to a section 2 if he was an employed executive. Bob