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SYSTEMATIC REVIEW article
Front. Commun.
Sec. Visual Communication
Volume 10 - 2025 |
doi: 10.3389/fcomm.2025.1550402
A systematic review on evaluating school safety signs and ways to improve its effectiveness
Provisionally accepted- Putra Malaysia University, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia
Safety signs are essential visual communication tools that convey critical information regarding hazards, regulations, and emergency procedures across various environments.Their significance has garnered considerable attention due to their role in enhancing public safety. However, existing studies have predominantly focused on design factors, with limited research addressing the interaction of non-design factors among specific age groups and safety communication in public spaces, particularly concerning young children's cognitive abilities and perceptions. This systematic review aims to comprehensively analyze the characteristics and effectiveness of safety signs within the school environment. A systematic review of the literature on safety signs-specifically their design within school premises-was conducted using the Systematic Review and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) approach to identify research gaps. Query strings were utilized to extract papers, identifying 48 peer-reviewed articles from 2000 to 2024 for review. The study assesses the effectiveness of safety signs and identifies factors that influence their efficacy. Additionally, it explores strategies to enhance the perception, delivery, and reception of safety messages. The research findings underscore that visual elements, including dynamic safety signs and their highly saturated colours, can enhance the effectiveness of warnings. It is recommended that technological tools such as eye tracking and virtual reality (VR) be utilized to assess human perception test results and improve testing methodologies accurately. Additionally, the aspects of enjoyment and experiential learning are beneficial. This review is a valuable resource for safety science researchers, visual designers, and policymakers by providing insights into the current state of research, identifying research gaps, and offering perspectives on the future of school safety signage pertinent to school-age children.
Keywords: Safety sign, Warning effectiveness, School environment, Risk Communication, visual elements, behaviroul feedback
Received: 23 Dec 2024; Accepted: 27 Jan 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Wang, Abdul Shukor, Kozlowski and Wan Mohamed. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Shureen Faris Abdul Shukor, Putra Malaysia University, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia
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