Marine

MCA Lifejacket Wear

Project Overview

Recreational maritime users are accidentally injured or killed every year in the UK.   Many of these accidents could be prevented with safety wear, for example cold water shock causes the victim to rapidly inhale lethal quantities of water, an inhalation that lifejackets protect against. This project was concerned with understanding and removing the barriers to lifejacket use in recreational maritime users.  Various research methods were employed and our findings revealed that risk perception and knowledge of cold water shock were low in the at-risk maritime population.  A visual warning campaign was tested and recommended for future efforts to enhance lifejacket use.  The warning campaign used key drivers identified in our research to enhance perception of risk posed by recreational sailing and increasing confidence in lifejackets to mitigate this risk. The MCA and RNLI have adopted this poster design and incorporated our research findings in a national lifejacket campaign.