White Card vs Working at Heights vs EWP: What's the Difference?

People often ask for “a ticket” without knowing which one they actually need, and it’s easy to see why. White Card, Working at Heights, and an EWP ticket all get lumped together as construction safety credentials, but they answer three different questions: can you be on the site at all, can you do this specific task, and can you operate this specific machine.

What does each one actually cover?

• White Card (unit CPCWHS1001): general construction induction. It’s the baseline for stepping onto any Queensland construction site, regardless of your trade or what you’ll actually be doing there.
• Working at Heights (unit RIIWHS204E): the competency for working safely at height, using fall-arrest systems, ladders or scaffolding, wherever that happens on site.
• EWP ticket (unit RIIHAN301E, or the separate WP licence over 11 metres): the machine-specific credential for operating a scissor lift or boom-type platform.

Do you need all three, or just one?

It depends on what you’re actually doing, not which site you’re on. A general labourer moving materials at ground level only needs a White Card. Someone accessing a roof or mezzanine with a harness needs a White Card and Working at Heights. Someone operating a scissor lift needs a White Card and an EWP ticket. If your role covers all of that, you need all three, and none of them substitutes for another.

Which ones expire, and which don’t?

White Card and Working at Heights are both Statements of Attainment with no legislated expiry date. The standard EWP ticket under 11 metres works the same way, though many sites still expect to see it completed within the last five years. The exception is the separate WP licence for booms over 11 metres: that one is a genuine WorkSafe Queensland High Risk Work Licence, and it does expire every five years. See our guide to who needs an EWP ticket for how that renewal works.

Why do people get them confused?

Partly because they’re often delivered together. EDB runs a combined course covering Working at Heights and EWP operation under 11 metres in a single booking, since the two frequently apply to the same role. And partly because “ticket” gets used loosely for all of them, when only the over-11m WP licence is actually a formal WorkSafe licence. The other two are training records, not licences WorkSafe tracks or renews.

If you’re not sure which of these your role actually needs, White Card is the one almost everyone needs first. From there, our trainers can tell you whether Working at Heights, an EWP ticket, or both apply to your job as well.