In 1970, I had a day on HMS Hermes, long before it was refitted with the ski-jump for the Harriers, it was Sea Vixens and Gannets at that time. There may also have been Buccaneers.
This picture is generally how it was, but may be a bit earlier than 1970, I seem to remember Wessexes on the day.
Access to it was via a sort of fire-escape-style stairs dangling from a door on the side. The ship was totally stationary, but the sea was quite active, so our little boat was going up and down a good bit. Getting onto the stairs from the boat involved quite a high level of commitment. It was necessary to avoid getting the boat stuck under the bottom of the stairs at the top of the waves, so it involved launching yourself sideways across the gap at the 'right point' in the swell.
The deck seemed very exposed, on what was quite a windy day, with no visible railings around the sides, although you should end up in the nets below the edge if you did fall off (in most places) - but the lift was not able to have any fall arrest systems - if you fell off the edge of that, you just went down until something solid stopped you.
Hermes took a very long time to get into service, for various reasons, but seems to have been scrapped only recently, after passing on into many years of further service with the Indian Navy.