Insurance and Care NSW (iCare) have opened a new Dust Disease Care Health Screening Clinic, which has relocated to iCare’s headquarters at 321 Kent Street, Sydney.

The Clinic offers lung health examinations to employers, workers and retirees who have had exposure to hazardous dust in a NSW workplace.

The service facilitates vital early identification of dust diseases, monitoring of disease progression, and provides education to at-risk workers about personal protection against dust disease.

Mr Richard Harding, CEO and Managing Director of iCare said the new space was designed considering the needs of clients who will use the facility, as well as the needs of the staff running the facility. 

“The lung health examinations this state-of-the-art clinic will provide to people who’ve been exposed to hazardous dust are life changing. Better case identification is the key to enabling early intervention which is critical to ensuring better health outcomes for workers exposed to dangerous dust.

We are now able to have our DDC team all working together at iCare’s headquarters, which will bring us even closer to those we serve, and help ensure that we are offering them the best lung health monitoring services,” he said.

iCare, through Dust Diseases Care, offers financial support to those diagnosed with a disability from a dust disease and their dependents, in addition to medical treatment and services such as walking aids, home modifications, and at-home nursing care. There’s also vocational re-training, so they are able to leave the industry if they choose and embark on another career.

In tandem with the new clinic, icare will continue to provide screening via the mobile ‘lung bus’, which last year continued to traverse NSW providing lung screening services to almost 1,500 workers. As the existing ‘lung bus’ nears the end of its useful life, icare is in the process of commissioning a new unit and is also undertaking a scoping study to assess the potential for an expanded mobile service in the future.

Last year, the DDC Health Screening Clinic provided services to 550 clients. Of those clients, 119 employers arranged appointments for 297 employees, and 253 clients are no longer working in a dusty workplace.

iCare’s Dust Diseases Care currently supports 1,810 workers who have developed a dust disease because of harmful dust exposure in an NSW workplace, and 3,451 dependents of those impacted.

For more information, visit https://www.icare.nsw.gov.au/injured-or-ill-people/work-related-dust-disease/who-we-care-for.

Members with questions are encouraged to contact the Master Builders Safety department on safety@mbansw.asn.au or 02 8586 3555.