What tends to happen in most ships is that the boat is lowered to the waterline using the falls and is then boarded by crew via the ship's rescue boat/FRC. That then alleviates anyone being in the boat during the launching process. Testing the launching hydraulics can be conducted with the fall wires attached so as to conduct a simulated launch where the boat itself moves only a few inches.

Chris, It's a requirement under SOLAS that the free fall lifeboat is waterborne atleast every 6 months. They can lower it to the water rather than launch it if required. I would've thought the lifting gear would be more of a hazard than the launching assuming everyone is strapped in

Cheers