Hydrajaws Davit Arm Tester: A Smarter Approach to Davit Post Testing and LOLER Compliance
Working at height brings inherent risks. Whether you’re managing roof access, façade maintenance or confined space rescue, reliable anchorage is not optional. That’s where a high-quality davit arm system becomes essential, providing a stable, safe and versatile anchor point in situations where traditional fall protection is not practical.
But installing a davit system is only part of the picture. Knowing it will perform under load when a life depends on it is another matter entirely. That’s why Hydrajaws has developed the Davit Arm Tester, a purpose-built solution for verifying davit posts with speed, precision and full digital traceability.
What is a Davit Arm System?
A davit arm system is a mechanical anchorage and access device used to provide a secure connection point for fall protection, rope access, rescue operations and more. Typically installed at roof edges, parapets or other elevated structures. It allows operatives to connect safely and carry out work in areas that would otherwise be difficult to reach.
Davit systems are widely used across industries from commercial building maintenance and industrial plant work to confined space operations and façade inspection, because they offer a flexible alternative to larger access systems like scaffolding or mobile elevating work platforms (MEWPs).
Why Davit Post Testing Matters
Understanding how to test davit posts is critical for ensuring your system performs safely over its service life. Even well-installed hardware can become compromised if its base or anchorage is not verified regularly.
Under LOLER 1998 (Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations), davit systems used for working at height require thorough examination every six months. In practice, however, the quality and traceability of that testing varies significantly across the industry.
Historically, the standard method for davit post testing has involved hanging physical weights over the side of buildings to simulate factored loadings. This approach is labour-intensive and frequently impractical, particularly where heights are significant, ground-level access is restricted, or public areas are directly below.
The result is an industry where the law requires testing, but where the method itself has remained difficult, time-consuming and poorly documented.
Introducing the Hydrajaws Davit Arm Tester
Hydrajaws developed the Davit Arm Tester to address this challenge directly. Designed specifically to load-test davit posts in situ, it is, to our knowledge, the first product in this category to combine portable hydraulic testing with real-time data capture and cloud-based reporting.
Where traditional testing methods produce paper records that are difficult to audit and easy to lose, the Davit Arm Tester produces structured, traceable digital evidence of every test performed.
Built for Efficiency on Site
Speed and practicality matter in real working environments. Once set up, the Davit Arm Tester repositions quickly between posts, allowing engineers to safely test significantly more davit posts in a single site visit. This streamlined workflow removes the two biggest barriers to thorough LOLER compliance: time and paperwork.
Integrated Digital Reporting via Hydrajaws Verify PRO
The tester integrates directly with the Hydrajaws Verify PRO app, enabling real-time load monitoring during every test and instant generation of time-stamped, cloud-stored reports. This brings the kind of digital audit trail that is commonplace in other areas of safety compliance, but has been largely absent from davit post inspection, into everyday site use.
Every test is documented automatically, accessible remotely and ready for regulatory review. There is no manual record-keeping, no risk of lost paperwork and no ambiguity about whether the engineer carried out a test correctly.
What Proper Davit Post Testing Should Include
Whether you are using the Hydrajaws Davit Arm Tester or reviewing your existing inspection process, robust davit post testing should cover the following:
Controlled load application: A verified test load applied to confirm the post can handle the required forces under real working conditions.
Verification against standards: Results compared against relevant safety standards, including BS EN 795 for anchor devices and the requirements of LOLER 1998.
Full documentation: Clear, traceable records showing the date, engineer, load levels and pass/fail outcome for every post tested.
Testing is not just a compliance exercise. It is the only reliable way to confirm that a davit post will perform as intended. Physical load testing reveals what visual inspection cannot: a post may appear structurally sound, but fail under the loads it will actually face in use.
The Difference the Hydrajaws Davit Arm Tester Makes
By combining portable hydraulic testing with integrated digital reporting, the Hydrajaws Davit Arm Tester delivers measurable improvements across three areas:
Occupational safety: Engineers and safety managers can confirm the structural integrity of each davit post with confidence, backed by real performance data rather than visual assumption. That data also supports smarter maintenance planning and more informed decisions over the life of the installation.
Regulatory compliance: Automated, time-stamped reporting means every test is documented to a standard that holds up to regulatory scrutiny, closing the gap between testing being done and testing being provable.
Workflow efficiency: The ability to reposition quickly between posts and generate reports instantly means teams can cover more ground in less time, without compromising on the quality or consistency of each test.
Watch the Hydrajaws Davit Arm Tester in Action
See how the Davit Arm Tester sets up, operates and generates reports on site, a practical walkthrough for engineers and safety supervisors.
Next Steps
If you are responsible for the inspection, maintenance or specification of davit systems, the Hydrajaws Davit Arm Tester is designed to make LOLER compliance more reliable, more efficient and fully auditable.
To find out more or to speak with our team about your testing requirements, visit our product page or get in touch directly.