The City of Stirling has unveiled new beach safety signage, reinforcing the important “swim between the red and yellow flags” safety message in an effort to reduce the number of preventable incidents occurring at local beaches.
In recent years, increasingly more incidents have been observed where individuals access the beach through unsigned, back-of-beach access points, enter the water, often very close to lifesaving patrols, and get into trouble.
Many of these incidents could have been prevented if individuals had moved a short distance down the beach to a patrolled area with a lifesaver on duty.
While Surf Life Saving’s “Stop. Look. Stay Alive.” beach safety messaging encourages beachgoers to consider a wide range of safety behaviours, as well as recognising that lifesavers can’t be everywhere, for busy metro beaches such as Trigg and Scarborough, where lifesavers are regularly on patrol, people need to be reminded to swim in the patrolled area.
Working with the City of Stirling, the evidence-backed safety message “swim between the red and yellow flags” informed the highly visible signage installed at key beach entry points, including car parks, beach access paths, and recreational precincts such as playgrounds.
The signage delivers a single, clear message: between the red and yellow flags is the safest space on the beach!
At locations where we have patrols, we want people to shift from just entering the water at the point they access the beach, to making a conscious choice to stop, look for the red and yellow flags signalling lifesavers on patrol, and to enter the water there. A simple act that could be a life-saving one.
Find your nearest patrolled location at beachsafe.org.au (opens in a new tab)
