The Minns Labor Government has renewed its commitment to protect workers from dust diseases with its new $2.5 million state-of-the -art Lung Health Mobile Clinic which is providing lung health checks to thousands of people across New South Wales.
The new lung bus has arrived in Nowra to provide free lung screening checks. These lung health checks can be lifesaving by ensuring early detection and treatment of dust diseases like asbestosis, silicosis and mesothelioma.
The lung bus program provides free lung screening checks to more than 5,000 workers annually in regional NSW.
The icare Lung Bus is travelling the length and breadth of the state, including visits to Newcastle, Port Macquarie, Coffs Harbour, Taree, Tuncurry, Spears Point, Tweed Heads, Gosford, Nowra, Shellharbour, Port Kembla, Bathurst, Dubbo, Broken Hill, Wagga Wagga, Griffith and Tamworth.
The brand-new Lung Bus continues the legacy of the state’s original mobile service which served the community for nearly 16 years.
That Bus travelled more than 700,000km (more than 17 times around the world), screening more than 53,000 people, and visiting over 300 destinations across NSW.
This is one of many measures to protect workers from dust diseases, including those caused by silica and asbestos.
The Minns Labor Government has established a new Expert Taskforce to help address silica related health risks in tunnelling projects, following revelations of rising silicosis cases in tunnelling leading up to 2023 and led the campaign for the national ban on engineered stone which started last year.
The NSW Government is funding a team of dedicated silica safety inspectors to ensure businesses are complying with its strengthened laws.
