The present invention relates to a winch.
Winches are widely known and utilized for lifting and lowering loads. It is often necessary not only to lower and lift a load, but also to lower and lift a worker to provide worker's fall protection above ground and below ground on towers, rigs, elevators, manholes, vessels, confined entries, ladders etc. where freedom of movement is needed, to provide a temporary support for a worker when it is needed to perform work at some vertical section and lift and lower a worker after a fall has occurred. The known winches cannot be used for said work. For performing the above listed works, it is generally necessary to use several mechanisms, including winches, fall protection safety devices, fixation elements, etc. The utilization of several various mechanisms makes a person's work very inconvenient, since he must be simultaneously connected with several mechanisms. Moreover, the known winches do not have sufficiently reliable devices for protecting against a fall during lowering of a person.