What’s the risk?

Photo courtesy of Hanonimas / Wikimedia Commons

They say beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but an equally personal judgment is how we perceive risk, and the different factors which influence our perceptions.

Unlike beauty, making a judgment about the risks posed by conditions in the water at a beach on any given day can be life or death. Natural hazards including rip currents and waves that break at the shoreline can be present one day and gone the next.

So how do beachgoers evaluate risk?

To answer that question, we used a unique multidisciplinary database combining beachgoer surveys, marine and weather data and lifeguard hazard assessments to examine beachgoer’s risk perception at La Lette Blanche, a beach in southwest France.

Our study, published in Natural Hazards included interviews with 722 beachgoers, just over half of whom were frequent visitors to that beach.

Perception of risk

Environmental risk factors which were easy to see, for example wave heights, were accurately understood by beachgoers. Therefore, beachgoers associated high wave heights and longer wave periods both with higher rip current risks and higher shore break risks. Interestingly, those who visited La Lette Blanche often expressed higher perceived risk around rip currents than those visiting for the first time.

Women were more conscious of the risk of both rip currents and waves breaking near the shore than men. Young people (18-25 years old) were less conscious of the risks, and tended to minimise them. Overall, people responding to the survey estimated their risk to be lower than that of other adults and children who were with them at the beach.

All things being equal, we found no difference in perceived risks between people surveyed arriving at or returning from the beach.

Contrary to what we often read, beachgoers seem to be aware of the danger, even if they don't detect all the subtleties. In the light of this, we must consider why some people still behave dangerously.

What does it mean for beach safety?

Beachgoers’ risks perception analysis is complex, but there are some key lessons we can take from this research. The difference between groups (age, gender, regular visitors, surfers vs. non-surfers) responding to the survey showed some more at-risk groups which could be targeted for future safety messages.

Overall, the shore break risk seems to be underestimated as compared with the rip currents risk. In south-west France, there has already been a great deal of communication on rip currents. More emphasis should be placed on the shore break risk.

The results also showed the importance of local safety messages that respond to the specific hazards of particular locations. These messages need to be delivered both on the beach to reflect the conditions on the day, and before people reach the beach, for example at holiday accommodation or even at home.

Finally, we need to educate people on the full range of factors that influence beach safety, not just those visible from a quick scan of the water, so they can accurately judge the risks.

Click here to read the full journal article

To read more about this research, go to the French iteration of The Conversation: https://theconversation.com/prevention-des-noyades-face-a-locean-aiguisons-notre-perception-du-risque-234705 For non-French speakers, translation is readily accessible via Google Translate.