MARINE SAR
Five-year study finds 'perceived risk' to be key factor in wearing PFDs
by Sharon Andrews
In the December 2002 edition of The Canadian Safe Boating Council's newsletter,
an article featuring its annual symposium mentioned that the keynote dinner
speaker, journalist Ann Medina, had "challenged all present to reach
'real boaters' such as herself with safety messages that were realistic
and believable." Present in the audience, and well underway to meeting
that challenge, was a member of the Canadian Coast Guard's Office of Boating
Safety, Brian Avery. By then, under Mr. Avery's direction, the Office
of Boating Safety was nearing completion of a five-year research and development
project to develop appropriate and meaningful communications strategies
and messages after extensive social market research to increase the wearing
of PFDs and lifejackets among Canadian recreational boaters.
That research began in 1998-99 with the formation of a Steering Committee,
a review of existing literature, and the conducting of focus group sessions
all aiming to establish baseline wear-rates across the country, and to
understand factors motivating boaters to wear or not wear PFDs. Much of
the existing data were fragmented and regional in scope; however, by understanding
the issues, a questionnaire could be designed that would glean significant
and quantifiable data.
 The
2000 boating season saw a national observational study of boaters actively
participating in boating activities. The baseline established was 20 percent
of Canadian boaters currently wear PFDs (on boats six meters or less).
Other interesting findings include operator behaviour affects passengers'
wear rates and two areas showed higher than average wear rates - the Far
North (44 percent) and Newfoundland and Labrador (60 percent).
Patterns emerge
In 2001 a national telephone survey asked about 4,000 respondents about
their attitudes and beliefs with regard to PFDs and lifejackets. Patterns
that emerged indicated that:
- decisions to wear are often based on the amount of risk present
- most people would wear a PFD if asked to do so by the operator of
the boat
- affluent and highly educated individuals claim greater control over
the environment, reducing their perceived need to wear a PFD
- women are more safety conscious than men, and
- a majority would support mandatory wear.
The next year, focus groups in the two areas where rates of wear were
higher gave more insight. Boaters who reported that they always or almost
always wear a PFD mentioned factors such as environmental risks (larger
lakes, ocean, colder air and water temperatures), the ability to be prepared
enough to handle the unpredictable, a near-drowning experience or having
known a drowning victim, and even parental instruction to wear a PFD as
influencing their decision. Overall, respondents felt the boat operator
is responsible for ensuring the safety of all occupants, and the decision
to wear should be based on individual assessment of risk involved - mandatory
wear therefore being untenable.
The national attitudinal survey was completed in the Fall of 2002, when
over 600 respondents in the North were contacted. As in the rest of Canada,
the majority were not aware of differences between lifejackets and PFDs*.
However, northern boaters showed more positive attitudes than those in
the rest of Canada toward PFD wear (80 percent vs 70 percent respectively)
and also displayed strong beliefs that PFDs are necessary despite strong
individual boating skills.
Decision based on degree of risk
The two-part attitudinal survey provided detailed comparisons of attitudes.
One commonly shared attitude was that the key driver of PFD wear is perceived
risk. If a boater thinks that the risk is manageable, a PFD will not be
worn. The more frequently a person safely undertakes a boating activity,
the lower the perceived risk and the lower the wear rate.
The majority of Canadians are somewhere in the middle of a continuum
ranging from those who never think about wearing a PFD to those who always
wear one. While most boaters believe that boating activities would be
safer if they wore a PFD, and more than 90 percent carry the appropriate
number on board, wear rates are low - the reasons most often given include
discomfort, lack of mobility to hunt and fish, or stained and smelly material.
Because, many boaters are still unaware of recent improvements to or
differences between PFDs and lifejackets, any campaigns to increase wear
must certainly be preceded by more education about these terms and the
attributes of the products.
Although the research is completed, the project's manager, Brian Avery,
superintendent of the Coast Guard's Office of Boating Safety in Newfoundland
and Labrador, points out that there is still a lot of work to be done,
especially in the development of communications tools. Besides the fact
that risks in boating vary across the country and any marketing campaign
will need to be regionally tailored, marketing and communications professionals
estimate that changes in attitudes displayed through behaviour change
will not begin to be noticed until at least five to 10 years after an
effective communications strategy has been in place.
* A lifejacket is designed to turn an unconscious person into a face
upwards position within a few seconds. A personal flotation device (PFD)
keeps a conscious person's head out of water in calm conditions and assists
them in rough water. A PFD is not designed to turn an unconscious person
from a face down position to a face upward position. (SARSCENE magazine,
Summer 1998)
Sharon Andrews works for the Canadian Coast Guard's Office of Boating
Safety in Newfoundland and Labrador.
Back to Table
of Contents
|
