Father of man killed during Storm Ali lends his support to workers' safety call: ‘Whenever there's storm, it brings it back'
Father of man killed during Storm Ali lends his support to workers' safety call
The father of a man who died during Storm Ali has lent his support to new legislation aimed at supporting employees working in hazardous weather conditions as he said he worries about workers 'every time there is a storm'.
Mark Campbell's son, Matthew, was struck by a tree, which toppled during the 2018 storm, as he carried out work in Slieve Gullion Forest Park near Newry; the 24-year-old was due to marry his girlfriend, Robyn, a few weeks later.
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Belfast Telegraph
4 days ago
- Belfast Telegraph
Father of man killed during Storm Ali lends his support to workers' safety call: ‘Whenever there's storm, it brings it back'
Father of man killed during Storm Ali lends his support to workers' safety call The father of a man who died during Storm Ali has lent his support to new legislation aimed at supporting employees working in hazardous weather conditions as he said he worries about workers 'every time there is a storm'. Mark Campbell's son, Matthew, was struck by a tree, which toppled during the 2018 storm, as he carried out work in Slieve Gullion Forest Park near Newry; the 24-year-old was due to marry his girlfriend, Robyn, a few weeks later.
Belfast Telegraph
28-04-2025
- Belfast Telegraph
‘Climate leave' for NI workers among union's extreme weather proposals
Unite said it has been engaging with Stormont departments to discuss its proposals to protect workers from the impact of extreme weather since the 2018 death of Unite member Matthew Campbell. Mr Campbell (24) died during Storm Ali after being struck by a falling tree in Slieve Gullion Forest Park. The electrical engineer died just months before he was due to get married. He was crushed to death by a falling 200-year-old beech tree, dying instantly in what was described in court as 'a freak accident' which 'could have — and should have — been avoided'. Last April, Newry, Mourne and Down District Council was fined £20,000, while Lagan Construction Ltd was handed a £30,000 fine, after admitting 'health and safety failings'. Unite also noted that of the 17 people who have died in the Republic as a result of named storms since 2014, five were killed either while working outdoors or while travelling to or from work. The union carried out a survey for International Workers' Memorial Day today, with 1,225 members from across Northern Ireland responding. It found that 59% of those whose work included outdoor responsibilities still had to perform them on the day of the storm. Of these, only 23% said they felt safe and 66% said they did not consider their employer had taken all reasonable precautions. Of those whose employer did not require them to work on the day of the storm, over half had to take the day as annual leave, unpaid leave, flexitime, sick leave or time-off-in-lieu or holiday. Unite's proposals include an obligation on employers to conduct risk assessments during extreme weather events, cease all routine outdoor work during orange alerts, and cease all non-essential indoor and outdoor work during red alerts, with workers continuing to be paid during such closures. The union is also proposing four days' paid climate leave, along the lines of that introduced in Spain following last year's devastating Valencia floods, if conditions render travel hazardous or workers need to address pressing domestic needs resulting from extreme weather. The union says a maximum working temperature should be set depending on the type of work and the working environment. It wants obligations on employers to attempt to reduce high temperatures. 7 Day Weather Forecast: 28th April - 4th May It called for an action level of 24C where heat management controls or systems must be put in place and an absolute maximum temperature of 30C — or 27C for 'strenuous jobs' — at which work should stop if these cannot be prevented by using engineering controls. Unite's Irish secretary Susan Fitzgerald said: 'Accelerating climate change means that the intensity and frequency of extreme weather events are set to increase. 'Workers must not be made to pay the price — in terms of their safety, health and livelihoods — for a climate crisis not of their making'. A survey of members in the Republic, carried out following Storm Eowyn, found 55% of respondents did not feel safe travelling to and from work during the storm. Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: 'On International Workers' Memorial Day, we are demanding that the government climate-proof health and safety laws to ensure that workers' lives and incomes are protected during extreme weather.'
Reuters
29-10-2024
- Reuters
Fact Check: Dated clips falsely captioned as a tornado hitting Dallas in 2024
A video compilation of old clips showing weather events from different locations has been falsely captioned as a tornado hitting Dallas in 2024. No tornadoes have hit the City of Dallas or Dallas County this year, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said. A video montage being shared online, opens new tab carried the text: 'Tornado in Dallas' and was captioned as #2024. A spokesperson for NOAA said in an email to Reuters that 'there have been no tornadoes in the City of Dallas or Dallas County in 2024.' No tornado appears in the agency's observed weather, opens new tab for October in Dallas. Reuters previously addressed the false claim of a tornado hitting Dallas in 2024 when it was shared with a different montage in August. Footage of a storm in Jacksonville Beach, Florida, opens new tab, in 2016 has been edited to add a tornado and used as the first clip in the compilation. The original footage, opens new tab was shared on a YouTube channel called 'Tornado Trackers' and titled 'Hurricane Matthew - Melbourne and Jacksonville, FL.' Gabe Cox, director of Tornado Trackers, said in an email that they recorded the original video. The edited clip, opens new tab can be seen in a September 2023 post on a TikTok account called @rtsarovvideo. The account's bio states: 'Videos real or edited.' Reuters previously addressed the altered clip when it was miscaptioned as Storm Daniel, which hit Libya in September 2023. The second clip is a flipped version of a video of a tornado (0:35 seconds) shared, opens new tab by Amanda McCrea Wolfe, a resident of Camrose in Alberta, Canada, on Facebook on June 4, 2024. The footage was published by news, opens new tab outlets, opens new tab to depict a tornado that hit Edberg, Alberta, in Canada on June 3, 2024. The exact location, opens new tab where the video was filmed can be seen on Google Earth, opens new tab. The third clip in the compilation was originally published, opens new tab on the licensing platform Viral Hog as showing a tornado in Martinsburg, Iowa, on March 31, 2023. The exact location, opens new tab of the tornado can be seen on Google Street View, opens new tab. Stock footage, opens new tab of a tropical storm available on stock media platform iStock by Getty Images has been flipped and edited to add a tornado. The edited version of the video was shared by, opens new tab the TikTok account @rtsarovvideo - the same account that shared the first clip. According to the description on iStock, the video was filmed in Cambodia and was added to the platform in October 2018. Fifth clip (0:26-0:30), opens new tab Reuters could not immediately verify the authenticity of the fifth clip. Sixth clip (0:31-0:37), opens new tab The sixth clip is a video of a tornado in Nebraska, opens new tab in April 2024 that was uploaded, opens new tab to video licensing company Storyful's website. Seventh clip (0:38-0:44), opens new tab The seventh clip is a flipped version of a video shared by local news outlet, opens new tab KSN depicting a tornado in Andover, Kansas, opens new tab, on April 29, 2022. Eighth clip (0:45-0:53), opens new tab The eighth clip also shows a tornado that hit Andover, Kansas, opens new tab, on April 29, 2022. Ninth clip (0:54-1:01), opens new tab The final clip in the montage is the flipped version of footage of a tornado shared on Instagram, opens new tab by storm chaser Ricky Forbes on Sept. 12, 2024. According to the post caption, the footage shows a tornado around Dodge City, Kansas, on May 16, 2016. VERDICT Miscaptioned. A montage shared with a claim that a tornado hit Dallas in 2024 consists of clips that are old and from elsewhere. This article was produced by the Reuters Fact Check team. Read more about our fact-checking work.
