Families win BBC payouts over 11 asbestos cancer deaths
The BBC has paid £1.64m in damages over the deaths of 11 former staff who died from cancer after working in corporation buildings riddled with asbestos, the Observer can reveal.
It has made the payouts to families of make-up artists, engineers, riggers, set builders, studio managers and television producers. All 11 died of mesothelioma, a rare cancer caused by prolonged exposure to asbestos.
They worked at no fewer than 18 BBC locations, including Broadcasting House in central London, Pebble Mill studios in Birmingham and Television Centre in White City, west London, its headquarters for decades until 2013.
The list also includes Bush House, the former base of BBC World Service radio, and Alexandra Palace, both in the capital. Known as “the birthplace of television”), the latter is a key part of BBC history because the corporation made its first TV broadcast from there in 1936.
The BBC made the admissions in response to a freedom of information request by the Observer. We sought details of settled casesafter revealing last year that it was facing potential damages claims from relatives of ex-members of the BBC Symphony Orchestra (BBCSO) and other former personnel who worked in premises containing asbestos.
The broadcaster said it had paid £1,637,501 in compensation over the last decade to settle claims involving the nine men and two women, who worked for it between 1959 and 1998. It did not name them.
“The payouts over these deaths show that asbestos remains a major menace,” said Liz Darlison, the chief executive of Mesothelioma UK, who is also a part-time NHS nurse in the NHS. “Many people don’t realise that 95% of our hospitals and 85% of our schools still contain some asbestos and that asbestos is a carcinogenic substance
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