The “man engine “ is a term stolen from old Cornish tin mining days. It was a contraption installed in a vertical shaft which enabled the men to get to and from the working seams. They literally jumped onto a small platform which went up or down a few yards and then they had to jump onto another one to continue their journey up or down. It was so hazardous that men were killed if they got their timing wrong.
That might well be another name for it, but I never heard it on my frequent visits to West Cornwall. If you read up on the history of the Levant Mine disaster (for example) it was always called the "man engine". Here's a link to the Levant, which is now owned and run by the National Trust https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/levant-mine-and-beam-engine/features/a-brief-history-of-levant-mine I know the area well. My late father-in-law was born in St Just and my ex-wife and I used to go there often - Botallack, Pendeen, Levant etc.
Here is an image (aminated) - an amazing bit of technology for the time but one fraught with dangers. Men fell from them or, of course, the whole structure could collapse (as at Levant). https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/db/Man_engine_animation.gif