Abstract: Safety system for hoist apparatus, used with all types of cranes employing a flexible element for the handling of a load, the device preventing the free fall of the load in the event of a flexible element rupture, where the flexible element (3) is conducted and guided in the interior of a housing, the system further comprising a pair of pulleys (4) and (5), tie-down mechanism capable of gripping the intact branches of the flexible element, and an activating mechanism which includes a latch, wherein in the normal working position, the flexible element freely circulates through the interior of the housing, and the latch (6) remains in a fixed position, and wherein the rupture of the flexible element displaces the latch, activating the system and gripping an intact portion of the flexible element with the tie-down mechanism.