This is amusing, and as it is first hand I see no reason to disbelieve it:

"Apparently it was quite a day in Lochmaben. The ice had been checked by the local council and was 7-8 inches, and solid. However, someone phoned the police to say there were lots of people on the ice and they didn't think it was safe. Anne tells the story, "Six police officers arrived but they couldn't go on ice to warn people because of health and safety so they passed the buck to the Nith rescue who came with a rescue boat but because of heath and safety they couldn't go on ice either. So the Coast Guard arrived, lights flashing! But guess what? Because of health and safety he couldn't go on the ice either! A great day was had by all."

Link: http://skipcottagecurlin...kirk-loch-lochmaben.html

Of course, it says nothing about whether the H&S advice to the rescuers was by professionals or management assuming they knew...

Matt

Interesting, perhaps the advice was from no one, and I wonder if the Police and other would be rescuers had balanced the risks and taken a personal decision not to venture onto the ice, in much the same way as the people who were on the ice had made the personal decision to do so. I gotta say I would be sorely tempted not to either. I can see that scene from the Omen where the person got stuck under the ice; scares me to this day!