Background
A former BBC Engineer Appeals to ex-Colleagues after Mesothelioma diagnosis
(from Jeanne Mallins)
A former electrical engineer who worked for the BBC in London for more than 20 years is appealing to his former colleagues to come forward with vital information as he launches a battle for justice after being diagnosed with an asbestos-related cancer.
David Procter, who now lives near Pickering, North Yorkshire, was diagnosed in March last year with mesothelioma, which is a terminal cancer of the lining of the lungs caused by exposure to deadly asbestos dust.
The 74-year-old instructed industrial illness experts at law firm Irwin Mitchell to investigate where and when he was exposed to asbestos throughout his career as an engineer in the capital city so he can obtain justice for the exposure that has caused his terminal illness and leaves him very tired, breathless and in a lot of pain.
David was employed by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) from 1961 until the 1980s and he believes he was exposed to asbestos during this time. He joined the company as a TV Studio Engineer at Television Centre in London and was responsible for the repair and maintenance of the equipment used in the studios. He later became a Planning and Installation Engineer based initially at Harewood House in Hanover Square and later at Henry Wood House opposite Broadcasting House.
During the next two decades he worked at many different sites including Riverside (1963 – 1964), Lime Grove (1965 – 1975) and Television Theatre (1982 – 1983) as well as conducting site visits in Belfast, Glasgow, Manchester, Norwich, Plymouth and Brighton.
Ian Toft, an industrial disease expert at Irwin Mitchell representing David, said: “We hope that David’s former colleagues will be able to come forward with any information about the conditions at the various sites he worked at throughout his career at the BBC so we can gather evidence to see whether potentially more could have been done by his employers to protect him from the deadly dust.
“Mesothelioma takes decades to develop after the exposure to asbestos but it is an aggressive and incurable cancer which causes so much distress to victims and their families as a result of simply not being given appropriate protection from asbestos.”
“The dangers and risks from exposure to asbestos dust were known by companies from at least the 1930s yet all too often we see workers and their families who have been left devastated decades later because they were not given the correct safety equipment to protect them from exposure.”
The father-of-two and grandfather of five first started to experience symptoms in February 2013 when he suffered from breathlessness. He went to his local GP in Snainton near Scarborough where he had tests and was sent to hospital for an x-ray, CT scan and further tests which revealed he was suffering from mesothelioma. He has since had his chest drained of excess fluid and a procedure called Pleurodesis which is a preventative treatment to help to stop fluid building up in the lungs.
David said: “I was completely shocked and devastated when I received my diagnosis and I am incredibly anxious about my future prognosis. We had such plans as a family in retirement but everything changed that day. It took away all my future hopes and I am just concerned about the family I will leave behind. Most of my colleagues knew me as Dave (with the bald head) or the “get in and fix it man” I would like to urge anyone who knew me or worked with me over the years at the BBC to come forward with any information on the various sites as it could be vital to the investigation by my legal team at Irwin Mitchell to determine where I was exposed to asbestos during my career.”
Anyone with information about the working conditions at the BBC at the Riverside, Television Centre, Lime Grove and Television Theatre sites are asked to contact Ian Toft at Irwin Mitchell on 0113 220 6235 or email ian.toft@irwinmitchell.com
Pat Heigham
Some while back, when Lime Grove Studios was being demolished, asbestos was discovered, and BECTU offered a form for us to fill in registering that anyone who had worked in LG could have been exposed to asbestos dust and fibres. This was to be used to prove employer’s liability if our health suffered in the future.
As Television Centre is now being re-modelled, it should be easy to find out if asbestos was/is present. I don’t know about Riverside or the Television Theatre (now reverted to Shepherd’s Bush Empire).
Lime Grove and Riverside were formerly film studios, TVT a theatre before the BBC converted them to TV studios – whether any inspection for asbestos was carried out at the time when the BBC acquired these premises I know not, but today’s Health and Safety at Work regulations were a long way off.
Ian Toft should contact BECTU, or Thompsons Solicitors (address at head of attached form) for the background to this. (Legal assistance helpline 0800 587 1278).
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Mike Giles
Norman Bennett died of Mesothelioma and I believe the BBC accepted liability for his exposure to asbestos dust.
Mike Cotton
After having registered as being at risk from Asbestosis I had some X rays which showed nothing (then) so I must have been contacted as a pensioner and not a Union member. I seem to remember that the grid of TC studios were sprayed with a sound absorbent asbestos compound which was disintegrating and to think we used to venture up there in our one piece boiler suits (!) to suspend microphones for programmes such as “Dig this rhubarb” with Dickie Chamberlain .
Bill Jenkin
From memory, there were two well documented exposures to asbestos in the studios at TC.
The first was in the 1980s when it was discovered that the level of asbestos in the dust in the studios was above any ‘safe’ levels. This resulted in all the studios being closed and cleaned and the roof trusses, which had been encased in asbestos so that they would not buckle in the event of a fire, were further encapsulated in a foam to contain the asbestos. The asbestos was eventually removed altogether.
The other case was specific to TC2 and was sometime in the 1990s or noughties. I don’t remember the full details but I think some asbestos dust got into the ventilation system because of a contractor breaking some encapsulation.
You only have to wander round the building to see the number of asbestos warning notices to understand how much there was.
Sara Newman
I can remember using the tunnels under the lifts to the canteen block and wondered if this was another source of exposure. The pipe work was clad and low and the temperature was both hot and humid.
