At what intervals should I place life rings around a water hazard?

You should only decide to install public rescue equipment after you have conducted a risk assessment. Rescue equipment should play only a minor role in a water safety strategy, with greater emphasis on prevention.

However once you have decided to install lifebuoys it should be:

• Clearly positioned and in colours of red or yellow
• At a maximum height of 1.7m above the ground
• Regularly inspected and replaced where necessary.

Placing and spacing will depend on the identified risk - look for the places where people congregate or where people are likely to fall in. Generally spacing of equipment at 100m intervals is acceptable under normal conditions, so that a potential rescuer is not more than 50m from the equipment.