12 to the precast unit 1 the safety pin 18 is raised by means of grasping rod 20 until its inner end is at least flush with base 16 and the tubular member 13 is oriented transverse to the slot of cavity 4 so as to insert the t shaped head 26 within the slot and into the cavity 4 then the ring 24 is rotated together with tubular member 13 so as to position the transverse leg of head 26 across the slot and at the same time the safety pin 18 becomes aligned with the slot and is released to protrude within the slot therefore safety pin 18 prevents accidental removal of the lifting device from the precast unit 1 the unit 1 may thus be hoisted and transported by a suitable hoisting cable attached to the ring 24 the lifting device 12 may be easily detached from the precast unit and the anchor member 5 used to attach the unit to a building structure as previously described fig5 and 7 show another embodiment of a lifting and hoisting device used more particularly for heavier precast units and also when tilting of the unit is required during its handling the lifting device is generally indicated at 28 and includes a base plate 29 which has a central hole 30 for slidably receiving the anchoring member 31 the base plate 29 has diametrically opposite notches 32 in the central hole 30 to receive diametrically opposite lateral lugs 33 carried by the anchoring member 31 safety pins 34 are secured to and protrude from the underside of base plate 29 and are adapted to engage the slot between the angle bars 2 an upper plate 35 is welded or otherwise rigidly secured to the base plate 29 on.