Catchingcancerearlywithmobileskinchecksonsite
News
Hutchies recently hosted a mobile skin check clinic at our Yatala Yard to help protect the health of our company members and subcontractors.
People in construction spend long hours outdoors in tough Australian conditions. With busy schedules, it’s easy to put off routine health checks. That’s why we’re bringing skin checks directly to our teams, making it easier to catch skin cancer early.
After just one site visit and 57 full-body skin checks, here’s what the clinic found:
- 11 suspicious lesions identified including 3 potential Basal Cell Carcinomas which are non melanoma skin cancers, but still can be quite aggressive if not detected early.
- 20 AK (Aktinic Keratoses) which are precancerous skin lesions
- 2 potential melanomas
At Yatala, the clinic crew showed genuine care and commitment. Their drive for early detection comes from personal experience, and they’re working with the Australian Skin Cancer Foundation to expand their mobile fleet with a new truck that will include advanced screening technology.
This important initiative has been brought to life thanks to Hutchies’ own Luke Hayes and Nick Johnston. It’s especially close to Luke’s heart, as he lost his father to melanoma 12 years ago, and knows firsthand how devastating skin cancer can be.
Luke spoke about the importance of regular skin checks for people working in the construction industry, especially those who spend most of their time onsite.
LukeHayes,QualityManager“A lot of the guys out here are in the sun pretty much consistently, so it’s important to look after their skin and get it checked regularly."
Support for the initiative is so strong we’re now expanding it nationally, now under the leadership of our National Health and Safety Manager, Jimmy Andersen – another Hutchies team member with firsthand experience with skin cancer. Jimmy has called on Hutchies’ Safety Managers across the country to champion the initiative and identify opportunities to roll it out across the business.
JimmyAndersen,NationalSafetyManager“It’s pretty scary to be told there’s something you need to get checked out, but once you rip the bandaid off you realise that you caught it early and it could’ve been so much worse," said Jimmy on the day. “I myself have had to have a few cancers cut out, but they got them before they spread. Early detection really does save lives."
We’re proud to back this cause and are working to make regular skin checks part of everyday life at Hutchies. With demanding schedules and long hours onsite, it’s easy to put off routine health checks. By bringing skin checks directly to where our people work, we’re helping to make it easier for our teams to look after their health.
Over the coming months, we’ll keep working with the Australian Skin Cancer Foundation to deliver more mobile clinics to Hutchies sites – so no one has to put their health on hold.
