page_title: Human factors in diving equipment design
section_title: Dive platforms and diver lifts
hierarchical_section_title: Human factors in diving equipment design / Access equipment / Dive platforms and diver lifts
caption_attribution_description: English: Diver exiting water by stern platform ladder on RLS survey vessel Reef Dragon at Bicheno, Tasmania
context_page_description: The underwater diver relies on various items of diving and support of equipment to stay alive and in reasonable comfort and to perform the planned tasks during a dive. The design of the equipment can strongly influence its effectiveness in performing the desired functions.
  Divers vary considerably in anthropometric dimensions, physical strength, joint flexibility etc. Diving equipment should allow as full a range of function as reasonably practicable, and should be matched to the diver, the environment and the task. The interface between equipment and diver can strongly influence functionality. Diving support equipment is usually shared by a wide range of divers, and must work for them all.
  The most difficult stages of a dive for recreational divers are out of water activities and transitions between water and the surface site such as carrying equipment on shore, exiting from water to boat and shore, surface swimming, and dressing into the equipment. Safety and reliability, adjustability to fit the individual, performance, and simplicity were rated the most important features for diving equipment by recreational divers.
context_section_description: A dive platform, or swim platform, is a near horizontal surface on a dive boat giving more convenient access to the water than the deck. It may be large enough for several divers to use simultaneously, or just enough for a single diver. The platform may be fixed, folding, or arranged to lower divers into the water and lift them out again, also known as a diver lift. Most dive platforms are mounted at the stern, usually on the transom, at a height a short distance above the waterline. They are easily flooded by a following sea, and are self-draining. Fixed and folding platforms are generally provided with ladders which can be folded or lifted out of the water when not in use, and steps or ladders from the platform to the deck, while lifting platforms may be sufficiently immersible for the divers to swim directly over the platform and stand up to be lifted to a level where they can walk off onto the deck. Handrails for use while using steps, ladders and lifts, when crossing or waiting on the platform, or making adjustments to equipment are a valuable safety adjunct as the platform will often be moving when in use, and the divers will usually be encumbered by heavy and bulky diving equipment. Barriers to protect occupants from pinch point hazards may be necessary when there are moving parts.
caption: Exiting water by stern platform ladder on a sailing catamaran
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