First of more than 1,000 lifesaving signs installed at Western Australia’s beaches

The first of more than 1,000 lifesaving Beach Emergency Number (BEN) signs to be installed along the coast of Western Australia have now been unveiled in the City of Kwinana and Shire of Waroona.

The BEN signs are part of the Western Australian Government’s election commitment to strengthen emergency responses should a serious incident occur. Each sign has a unique code, to help emergency services pinpoint exact beach access locations and improve crucial response times for a range of potential serious incidents.

The signs were initiated by Rick Gerring, the brother of Ben Gerring whose life was lost after a fatal shark attack in Falcon in 2016, after concerns about possible delays in attending emergency services trying to locate the closest beach access point.

The Western Australian Government has offered grants of up to $25,000 for eligible metropolitan councils, and up to $50,000 for eligible regional councils, to install the lifesaving signage.

Since the announcement of the program in December 2017, 29 of the 32 eligible local government authorities have expressed an interest in the signage, and 26 are actively working with the Western Australian Government.

The City of Kwinana is the first metropolitan council to install the lifesaving BEN while the Shire of Waroona is the first regional council with three BEN signs now in place at Preston Beach.

The City of Mandurah independently installed 81 BEN signs in honour of Rick Gerring in May 2017.

The lifesaving BEN signs are part of a comprehensive shark mitigation strategy. This strategy includes; funding for Surf Life Saving WA beach, helicopter and drone patrols, a world-first personal shark deterrent subsidy for divers and surfers, beach enclosures, an extended Shark Monitoring Network to Esperance, tagging operations and a new SMART drumline trial off Gracetown.

The first sign has been installed at Wells Park in Kwinana, one of nine signs for the Kwinana and Naval Base coast.

Image: Ben Gerring, brother of Rick Gerring, at the inveiling of the BEN sign at Wells Park in Kwinana.