The 27-Metre Reach on a 24-Metre Machine
A site supervisor asks you to confirm the licence class needed for a job. The work is to install cable trays along the underside of a warehouse ceiling at a working height of 23.4 m. The only machine available is a truck-mounted boom lift whose rated maximum platform height is 24.0 m, but which is fitted with a 1.8 m jib that the supervisor intends to deploy horizontally to reach over a racking row. The supervisor argues that because the platform height is under 24 m, a WP licence covers it and no higher boom length consideration applies. You are asked to sign the pre-start paperwork. Two of the crew hold WP licences issued in another state; one holds no licence at all and says he was told the ticket was 'in the mail'.
1. Determine whether the task falls within WP scope, and explain how boom length is established for licensing purposes rather than platform height alone.
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The key distinction is between platform height and boom length. The WP class covers boom-type elevating work platforms where the boom length is 11 metres or more - the licence class is set by the boom length of the machine, not by the height the platform reaches or by the height of the building. A machine with a 24 m platform height will almost always have a boom length well above 11 m, so WP is the correct (and minimum) class here; the question is not whether WP applies but whether anything above WP applies.
In the Australian model WHS licensing scheme there is no separate class above WP for boom-type EWPs - WP is the boom-type EWP class, and it is defined by boom length ≥11 m. So the supervisor's reasoning ('under 24 m so WP is fine') reaches the right answer by the wrong route and, more dangerously, suggests he believes there is a height threshold that exempts the machine. There is not.
The jib matters differently: deploying a jib horizontally changes the reach and the load chart, not the licence class. The operator must still be competent on that configuration, and the SWMS and load chart must cover it.
So: WP licence required for all operators, including the two interstate holders (a current interstate licence is recognised, but check it is current and for the right class). The unlicensed worker must not operate the machine at all.
2. Assess the supervisor's request that you sign the pre-start paperwork, and set out what you should do about the unlicensed crew member.
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Signing the pre-start paperwork is not a clerical act - a pre-start check records that the machine is fit for use, and signing it while knowing an unlicensed person is rostered to operate creates a false record and exposes you personally.
What the paperwork should actually verify:
- Each operator holds a current WP licence (or a recognised current interstate licence) - sight the card or verify the digital licence.
- The machine's boom length is recorded and matches the licence class.
- The load chart for the jib configuration is on board and understood.
- The SWMS covers the jib reach over the racking.
On the unlicensed worker: 'in the mail' is not a licence. Under WHS law a person must not operate a boom-type EWP with a boom length of 11 m or more unless licensed, and a PCBU must not direct or allow an unlicensed person to do so. The worker can be employed on non-operating tasks (spotting, materials handling at ground level) but must not be in the basket controlling the machine. You should decline to sign until the roster is corrected, record the refusal and the reason, and escalate to the site manager. If pressed, the correct position is that the machine does not start until the licensing gap is closed.