EWP stands for elevating work platform. On Australian sites you’ll also hear “cherry picker”, “boom lift”, “scissor lift”, “knuckle boom” and “travel tower” — most of which are types of EWP rather than alternatives to one.
That matters more than it sounds, because the licence, the training and the paperwork all change depending on which type you’re standing in. Here is the plain version.
The definition
Safe Work Australia defines EWPs as mobile platforms that lift or lower people and equipment from a base support, using a hinged device, an articulated device, or a combination of the two.
Three things are doing work in that sentence. It’s mobile — it moves, unlike fixed access. It lifts people, not just materials, which is what separates it from a hoist or a forklift. And it lifts from a base support, so the whole system’s stability depends on what that base is sitting on.
The types you’ll actually see
Safe Work Australia lists the main types as:
- Scissor lifts — a platform that rises straight up on a crossed-brace mechanism. Big platform, good for a crew and materials, but it only goes vertically. No reaching over anything.
- Self-propelled boom lifts — the machine drives itself and the boom extends up and out. Straight-boom (“telescopic”) versions reach further; articulating (“knuckle boom”) versions bend to get over and around obstacles. This is the classic cherry picker.
- Trailer lifts — a boom on a trailer, towed into position and set up on outriggers. Common for maintenance and lighter access work.
- Truck or vehicle mounted lifts — a boom mounted on a truck. Used heavily for utilities, signage, street lighting and anything that needs to move between locations quickly.
- Telehandlers with elevating work platform attachments — a telehandler with a work cage fitted to the boom. Same machine, different job, different licence.
- Vertical mast lifts — a narrow, mast-guided platform that goes straight up. Compact and light, designed for indoor and finished-floor work where a scissor lift is too heavy or too wide.
Which one do you actually need?
The question that decides it isn’t “how high” — it’s “how high, and what’s in the way”.
- Straight up, nothing in between, need room for two people and gear? Scissor lift.
- Need to reach over a structure, a pit, plant or stacked materials? Articulating boom lift. This is the capability nothing else gives you.
- Working inside a finished building, tight aisles, floor loading limits? Vertical mast lift.
- Moving between many locations in a day? Truck or trailer mounted.
- Already have a telehandler on site and need occasional access? A work platform attachment can work — but check the licence implication below before you assume it’s free.
Rough terrain matters too. Most scissor lifts and mast lifts are built for firm, level surfaces. Putting one on soft or graded ground is how machines end up on their side.
The licence: one line decides it
There is a single threshold in Australian law, and it is about the boom, not the working height:
A high risk work licence is required to operate a boom-type EWP where the length of the boom is 11 metres or more. The licence class is WP. Safe Work Australia is direct about the employer’s duty here: “You must see their licence (or written evidence) before you let them do this work.”
For every other type — scissor lifts, vertical mast lifts, boom lifts under 11 metres — there is no high risk work licence. But the duty doesn’t disappear. Safe Work Australia: for other types of EWPs, you must still make sure the workers operating them know how to operate them safely with the right training, information and instruction.
This is where the industry Yellow Card comes in. It is training administered by the industry association, widely required by sites and hire companies, and it is not a licence. It is also frequently confused with a card that doesn’t exist at all — we unpacked that in our article on the WP licence, the Yellow Card and the “EWP blue card” myth.
One trap worth naming: fitting a work platform to a telehandler can pull you into WP licence territory. In Queensland, a WP licence is required for a multi-purpose tool carrier when the work platform is attached directly to the main boom and can be extended 11 metres or more. The machine didn’t change. The attachment did.
The paperwork people forget
Construction work using an EWP is likely to be high risk construction work, which means a safe work method statement (SWMS) must be completed before work starts, and the work must be carried out in line with it.
Safe Work Australia notes the SWMS should clearly state the control measures for the hazards arising from EWP use — naming crush, overturning and collision risks specifically. Those three are worth taking literally:
- Crush — the operator being trapped between the platform rail and a structure overhead. It is the characteristic EWP fatality, and it happens on small movements, not dramatic ones.
- Overturning — ground conditions, slope, wind rating, and loading the platform beyond its chart.
- Collision — with site traffic below, or with the structure being worked on.
If the SWMS for your EWP work doesn’t address those by name, it isn’t finished.
A short pre-start list
- Is the machine within its inspection and service dates, and is the log on board?
- Does the ground support it, at the reach you’ll be using?
- Are the emergency lowering controls identified, and does someone at ground level know how to use them?
- Is the harness requirement correct for the type? Boom lifts and scissor lifts are not treated the same.
- Is anyone working or walking underneath, and is the exclusion zone real?
- What’s the wind rating, and what’s the wind doing?
Hiring EWP operators
If you’re bringing in operators through a labour hire provider, ask for three things in this order: the type of machine the job needs, the WP licence if any boom on site is 11 metres or more, and evidence of training for everything else. A White Card is a given.
DL Aus Group supplies EWP operators and other machine operators to builders across QLD, NSW, VIC & WA, and has done since 2019. We match the ticket to the machine before anyone is allocated. Labour hire licences: Queensland LHL-04372-G3F0N, Victoria VICLHL03363.
Tell us what you’re lifting and where, and we’ll tell you what the job needs. Chasing EWP work yourself? Register here.
No minimum contract — book one worker for a single shift or a full crew for the length of the job. Need someone on site today? Call +61 415 540 088; same-day starts are available when you ring through your request.
Official sources
- Safe Work Australia — Elevating work platforms: overview
- Safe Work Australia — High risk work licence classes
- WorkSafe Queensland — When don’t I need a licence?
This article explains publicly available regulator guidance as at September 2026. Requirements differ between states and change over time — check with the regulator in the state the work is in before you rely on it.
