Renewal Lapse and the Digital Licence on Site
An experienced operator, employed by you for six years, tells you on a Tuesday morning that his WP licence expired last Friday. He says he has paid the renewal online, has a confirmation email, and has been operating all week 'because everyone knows the renewal is automatic'. He also says his physical card was lost months ago and he has been showing a screenshot of the old card on his phone. The site has a digital licence verification process: the regulator's app shows live licence status. When you check the app, it shows the licence as expired. The operator is rostered on a 26 m boom lift this afternoon and argues that pulling him off will delay the concrete pour.
1. What is the status of the operator's licence, and can he operate this afternoon?
Read the worked answer
The licence is expired. A payment confirmation is not a licence, and renewal is not automatic in the sense of extending the licence while the application is processed - the licence runs to its expiry date. The regulator's app is the authoritative check, and it shows expired. The screenshot of the old card is worthless: a screenshot can be edited, cannot show current status, and is not an acceptable form of evidence.
Therefore he cannot operate the boom lift this afternoon. Boom-type EWPs with a boom length of 11 m or more require a current licence, and an expired licence means unlicensed operation - an offence for the operator and for you as the person allowing it.
The concrete pour is a scheduling problem, not a licensing problem. Options: redeploy a licensed operator, hire a licensed operator for the shift, or reschedule the pour. Delay cost does not create a legal authority to operate.
2. Set out the corrective actions and what you would tell the operator about the digital licence and the lost card.
Read the worked answer
Immediate: remove the operator from the machine, record the stand-down and the reason, and confirm cover for the pour.
Corrective actions:
- Require the operator to complete the renewal and produce the current digital licence (live in the app) or a replacement card before returning to operating duties.
- Apply for a replacement card, since the physical card was lost.
- Review how the lapse was missed - a licence register with expiry dates and a reminder at 60 and 30 days would have caught it. Add all operators to the register and audit it monthly.
- Brief the crew that a screenshot is not acceptable evidence and that the app check is the standard.
What to tell the operator: the digital licence in the regulator's app is the live record; it is the check that will be used on this site. A screenshot or a photo of a card is not accepted because it cannot show current status. Renewal should be done before expiry - the app will show the new expiry date once the new licence is issued. Until then, he is on non-operating duties.