BBC’s new £1bn HQ a ‘toxic waste pit that is making staff sick’
NEWSREADERS at the BBC’s flagship £1 billion headquarters have complained that the revamped building is a ‘toxic waste pit’ which is making them ill.
Staff at the new Broadcasting House in Central London claim there is a ‘trend of filth, human waste products and a badly built building’.
They have called on bosses to intervene ‘as a matter of urgency’ over the ‘unclean and dangerous’ premises they say are so unhygienic that staff regularly become sick.
The astonishing claims are the latest in a string of gripes from staff working in the high-spec building, completed in June last year following a renovation project which ran £55 million over budget and four years behind schedule.
They were made by BBC World News presenter Peter Dobbie in an email sent to Dan Goad, the recently appointed Head of HR for BBC News, and circulated to BBC staff.
In the email, seen by The Mail on Sunday, the presenter says he was hospitalised last month by a norovirus infection he claims he contracted while working in a basement studio known as B3, home to several news channels and programmes.
Norovirus is a vomiting bug which affects thousands of people every year and is known to breed in insanitary conditions.
Mr Dobbie writes: ‘I’ve had “food poisoning” three times now in the past year from B3, as have several of my colleagues. There is now obviously a trend down there – a trend of filth, human waste products, and a badly built building. Whatever is happening on B3 is vicious, adaptable and life-threatening. Dan, I don’t say this lightly, but what has to happen before the BBC does the right thing by the staff over this, accept there’s a problem because people are getting sick, and deal with it. The onus surely is on the BBC to make sure we’re safe, not on us to prove that the building is a toxic waste pit.’
Fitness fanatic Mr Dobbie, who competes in endurance events, says he spent two days in intensive care and more than a week recovering in hospital after the bug attacked his glands. He says B3 has ‘a track record of being unclean and dangerous’ and names high-profile staff who have also been ill. They include Nik Gowing and Babita Sharma, also presenters on BBC World News, and financial journalist Sally Bundock.
But he says: ‘There are others, not least all the make-up artists who live down there for ten-hour shifts: headaches, sickness, nosebleeds, nausea and no fresh air.’
B3 is the lowest basement floor, with studios for BBC World News, BBC London, Newsnight and The Andrew Marr Show.
Two months ago it emerged that the BBC was spending tens of thousands of pounds renovating parts of the building.
A BBC spokesperson said: ‘We take this issue very seriously and conducted a full investigation as soon as we were made aware of these concerns. We have found no evidence of a link to the studios. We are glad Peter is making a good recovery.’