{"id":36472,"date":"2025-12-10T08:59:29","date_gmt":"2025-12-09T21:59:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/?p=36472"},"modified":"2025-12-10T08:59:29","modified_gmt":"2025-12-09T21:59:29","slug":"2-5-million-lung-bus-arrives-in-gosford-to-protect-workers-against-dust-diseases","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/2025\/12\/10\/2-5-million-lung-bus-arrives-in-gosford-to-protect-workers-against-dust-diseases\/","title":{"rendered":"$2.5 million Lung Bus arrives in Gosford to protect workers against dust diseases"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The new lung bus has arrived in Gosford 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The lung bus program provides free lung screening checks to more than 5,000 workers annually in regional NSW.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>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 and Tamworth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The new mobile clinic features several innovations including:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Digital chest X-ray technology<\/strong>, providing precise and reliable first instance imaging.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Enhanced spirometry (lung function) testing equipment<\/strong>\u00a0to evaluate breathing capacity and respiratory performance.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Digital monitoring systems<\/strong>\u00a0to streamline diagnostics and care.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>A backup power supply<\/strong>\u00a0to ensure uninterrupted operation in remote locations.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Greater accessibility and comfort,<\/strong>\u00a0with larger clinical space designed to support both staff and clients.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>The brand-new Lung Bus continues the legacy of the state\u2019s original mobile service which served the community for nearly 16 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This is one of many measures to protect workers from dust diseases, including those caused by silica and asbestos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The NSW Government is funding a team of dedicated silica safety inspectors to ensure businesses are complying with its strengthened laws.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Lung Health Mobile Clinic will be in Gosford at the Hylton Moore Oval Car Park on Wattle St, until Thursday 11 December.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Whilst lung bus bookings are at capacity, for more information on lung health checks or to arrange a screening, visit:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\nhttps:\/\/www.icare.nsw.gov.au\/employers\/employer-obligations\/lung-screening-service\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Workers can also arrange a free lung screening at icare\u2019s Sydney CBD clinic, or with local providers regionally when the lung bus is not in that part of the state. To book a free lung health check, contact icare on&nbsp;<a href=\"tel:1800550027\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">1800 550 027<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Minister for Work Health and Safety Sophie Cotsis said:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe new Mobile Clinic underscores the Minns Labor Government\u2019s commitment to removing barriers like cost and location, ensuring workers across NSW have access to the critical support and care they need to safeguard their health.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cAlong with enforcement of the recent ban on engineered stone, the new Lung Bus demonstrates our commitment to improve outcomes for workers exposed to hazardous dust across NSW.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Minister for Regional NSW Tara Moriarty said:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI welcome the $2.5 million investment into the new icare Lung Bus which will provide thousands of health checks for people living in regional NSW.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cOur regional communities remain front and centre when it comes to ensuring early detection and treatment of dust diseases like asbestosis, silicosis, and mesothelioma.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Minister for the Central Coast David Harris said:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe want to make sure that Central Coast people have access to the healthcare they need, when and where they need it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cFor too many, life gets in the way of regular check-ups so by bringing this mobile service directly to our Coast community, we\u2019re removing one more barrier to staying healthy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWhether you\u2019re working in construction, mining, manufacturing or just living in the area &#8211; we\u2019re urging everyone to take a few minutes to get checked.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Member for Gosford Liesl Tesch said:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;It is fantastic to have the icare Lung Bus here in Gosford. This is a terrific initiative that plays a vital role in keeping workers safe and healthy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThese health checks can be lifesaving by enabling the early detection and treatment of dust-related diseases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cBy bringing these essential services directly to the communities that need them most, the icare Lung Bus is helping to protect the health and futures of our workers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Icare Group Executive of General Insurance and Care, Britt Coombe said:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cA lung health check could save your life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cEarly detection is critical to effective treatment, and we\u2019re here to make sure every worker, no matter where they live, has access to world-class care.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>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 Gosford to provide free lung screening checks. These lung health &hellip; <a href=\"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/2025\/12\/10\/2-5-million-lung-bus-arrives-in-gosford-to-protect-workers-against-dust-diseases\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;$2.5 million Lung Bus arrives in Gosford to protect workers against dust diseases&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-36472","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nswnews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36472","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36472"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36472\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":36473,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36472\/revisions\/36473"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36472"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36472"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36472"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}