This report, in partnership with Water Safety Scotland & the RNLI, outlines research carried out in 2022 into water safety signage across Scotland. The research is a ‘snapshot’ of the current signage in place across key areas of owned land in Scotland.
The report found that water safety signage in Scotland is not uniform and lacks clarity. The key findings were that:
- water safety signs had little consistency in terms of font size, sign size, colouring and amount of written information
- 63% of the signs were not specific to water safety
- 69% of the signs included the correct use of British Standard symbols
- 19% of the signs did not include information on what to do in an emergency
- Only 44% of the signs included a location code, although there was little consistency in terms of the type of location code.
The report recommends that funding should be sought to explore the minimum critical information needed for inclusion on water safety signs, and investigate options for reforming and simplifying water safety signage across Scotland.