Height safety davit with fail-safe mechanism

A davit for arresting the fall of a person working at heights or for material handling where lifting of overloaded material is prevented;

• and for absorbing excessive forces experienced either by the person when they are being arrested in their fall after falling from a height, or by the davit and which are exerted by the material to be lifted from a supporting surface, the davit comprising:
• (a) a mast secured at a lower end to a load bearing surface,
• (b) a fuse holder secured to an upper end of the mast,
• (c) a fuse head connected to the fuse holder by spaced apart first and second connections, the fuse head comprising a plurality of sacrificial fuses arranged in series thereon,
• (d) a jib arm connected to the fuse head, and
• (e) a primary fall arrestor system having an arresting load limit and mounted to a side of the mast if the davit is to be used for arresting the fall of a person working at heights, and/or a primary lifting-overload prevention system having a working load limit and safety factors if the davit is to be used for material handling where lifting of overloaded material is to be prevented, and
• wherein, when non-excessive forces are being absorbed either by the primary fall arrestor system or by the primary lifting-overload prevention system, the fuse head will remain stationary relative to the fuse holder, and
• wherein, when excessive forces are being absorbed either by the primary fall arrestor system or by the primary lifting-overload prevention system, the fuse head will rotate downwardly relative to the fuse holder, and
• wherein the rotation of the fuse head is around the first connection to the fuse holder and is the result of the excessive forces causing the second connection to the fuse holder to break one or progressively more of the sacrificial fuses of the fuse head until enough fuses have been broken to absorb the excessive forces experienced by the person when they are arrested in their fall or by the davit and which are exerted by the overloaded material to be lifted.