Our study, published in the Journal of Outdoor Recreation and Tourism, reviewed some of the signs in national parks in Queensland and Victoria; we also interviewed rangers and park managers.
Outdoor recreation inherently comes with risk but there are ways to reduce it without wrapping people up in cotton wool.
One of the simplest ways is to critically examine the way we design safety signs to ensure that visitors actually read them, connect with the message, and accept that this warning does really apply to them.
Our findings help to show why and how particular signs are effective at communicating safety messages – and what not to do.
To be effective a sign should, among other things:
be easy to notice
be easy to understand
use colours that stand out from the background
include languages other than English
include graphics and the traditional “no” symbol of a red circle with a line through it
avoid crowding too many messages into one spot.
Young men and international tourists at riskMillions of visitors access and enjoy Australia’s vast network of protected areas safely every year.
Park managers want locals and tourists to visit natural areas - it is good for health and well-being, the economy and society. Visitors to parks are also more likely to support national parks. Effective communication of safety information for visitors to national parks is essential, particularly where the potential consequences of mishaps are severe.
We know from previous research that certain groups, such as young men and international tourists, are particularly at risk - too often with tragic and sometimes expensive consequences.
Some park agencies are actively targeting high-risk groups at specific sites, as this example shows.
The focus is to tell the story of past tragedies to get across the message that the risk is real and relevant to them.
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Bushwalk
