Mismatch between classroom furniture and anthropometric measures of university students

The appropriate design of tools, equipment and accessories for human body sizes, while meeting the social, cultural, economic and psychological needs of people, provides maximum benefit. This is crucial for students who spend most of their time using school furniture. The aim of the study is to investigate the mismatch between school furniture dimensions and students’ anthropometric measures. Nine anthropometric measures were taken of 225 students (68 female and 157 male) from nine departments of an engineering faculty using a specially designed measurement tool. The mismatch percentages between the existing classroom furniture dimensions and the anthropometric measures were determined using some well-known criterion equations. The results indicated a considerable mismatch: 44.45% for seat height, 100% for seat depth, and 21.28% for desk height. Two types of proposed classroom furniture achieved much higher percentage matches. The match percentages were above 70% for four dimensions for type A and above 95%, except for seat height and width of backrest, for all of the dimensions for both types.Relevance to industryThis study helps in establishing and motivating necessary further studies in classroom ergonomics in university settings.     

Evidence for the need to update the Chilean standard for school furniture dimension specifications

Some countries decide to use standards to define the type of furniture dimensions that should be used according to students' anthropometric characteristics. The aim of this paper is to generate data to update the standard for Chilean school furniture using student anthropometric data. The sample used involved 3078 students. Data collection included eight anthropometric dimensions. A strict procedure was followed to define six furniture school dimensions. The definition of the compatibility between students' characteristics and furniture dimensions was done using the concept of mismatch computed through a set of equations. The results showed differences in mismatch levels between the two compared approaches, with lower mismatch found using the new proposed approach – the updated standard (UpS). Seat depth presents the greatest difference in mismatch, with values of 43% for the current Chilean standard (ChS) and 17% for the UpS. Also, seat height match values are almost the same (100%); however, it is important to mention that the level of match could drop to 82% in the ChS if the furniture selection was already carried out, as suggested in the standard itself, by using the Stature. Finally the UpS presents a higher covered range in the six furniture dimensions. The obtained results reflect the need to update the data and the procedure for school furniture selection presented by the current Chilean standard. Relevance for industry: this paper presents relevant data to be used by both school furniture designers, as well as by those responsible for the furniture selection at schools. In addition, proof is presented that school furniture standards need to be updated periodically in order to better fit the students’ anthropometric characteristics.     

Match between school furniture dimensions and children's anthropometry

The purpose of the study was to examine whether school furniture dimensions match children's anthropometry. Children aged 6-18 years (n=274), divided into 3 groups on the basis of the used furniture size, were subjected into anthropometric measurements (shoulder, elbow, knee and popliteal height, buttock-popliteal length and hip breadth). Combinational equations defined the acceptable furniture dimensions according to anthropometry and match percentages were computed, according to either the existing situation--where children use the size assigned for their grade--or assuming that they could use the most appropriate of the sizes available. Desk and seat height were bigger than the accepted limits for most children (81.8% and 71.5%, respectively), while seat depth was appropriate for only 38.7% of children. In conclusion, the assumption that children could use the most appropriate yet available size significantly improved the match, indicating that the limited provision of one size per cluster of grades does not accommodate the variability of anthropometry even among children of the same age.     

Applying different equations to evaluate the level of mismatch between students and school furniture

The mismatch between students and school furniture is likely to result in a number of negative effects, such as uncomfortable body posture, pain, and ultimately, it may also affect the learning process. This study's main aim is to review the literature describing the criteria equations for defining the mismatch between students and school furniture, to apply these equations to a specific sample and, based on the results, to propose a methodology to evaluate school furniture suitability. The literature review comprises one publications database, which was used to identify the studies carried out in the field of the abovementioned mismatch. The sample used for testing the different equations was composed of 2261 volunteer subjects from 14 schools. Fifteen studies were found to meet the criteria of this review and 21 equations to test 6 furniture dimensions were identified. Regarding seat height, there are considerable differences between the two most frequently used equations. Although seat to desk clearance was evaluated by knee height, this condition seems to be based on the false assumption that students are sitting on a chair with a proper seat height. Finally, the proposed methodology for suitability evaluation of school furniture should allow for a more reliable analysis of school furniture.     

School furniture and the user population: an anthropometric perspective

The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between reported spinal symptoms in an adolescent student population, and the match between their individual anthropometric dimensions and their school furniture. The hypothesis was that students who were too large or too small for their school furniture, i.e. with anthropometric measurements furthest from the group whose anthropometry was the ‘best fit’ with the furniture, would have a higher frequency of reported symptoms. From data collected from 1269 schoolchildren, reported spinal symptoms and anthropometric measures were examined. Stature measures were divided into quartiles. A standard government issue school chair and desk was measured and the anthropometric quartile of the population having the ‘best fit’ with the furniture was identified using standard ergonomics recommendations. Odds ratios were calculated for spinal symptoms reported within each quartile group. The first quartile group (the smallest students) was identified as having the ‘best fit’ with the school furniture. An overall higher odds of reporting low back pain was noted in students with anthropometric dimensions in the fourth quartile (the tallest students). While it is acknowledged that there is a multifactorial nature of causality of adolescent spinal symptoms, it is contended that the degree of mis-match between child anthropometry and school furniture set-up should be further examined as a strong and plausible associate of adolescent low back pain.     

Equations for defining the mismatch between students and school furniture: A systematic review

The present study reviews the scientific literature that describes the criteria equations for defining the mismatch between students and school furniture. This mismatch may negatively affect students' performance and comfort. Seventeen studies met the criteria of this review and twenty-one equations to test six furniture dimensions were identified. There was substantial mismatch between the relative heights of chairs and tables. Some systematic errors have been found during the application of the different equations, such as the assumption that students are sitting on chairs with a proper seat height. Only one study considered the cumulative fit. Finally, some equations are based on contradictory criteria and need to develop and evaluate new equations for these cases.Relevance to industryUltimately, the present work is a contribution toward improving the evaluation of school furniture and could be used to design ergonomic-oriented classroom furniture.     

Classroom furniture dimensions and anthropometric measures in primary school

The purpose of this study was to compare students' dimensions to the dimension of school furniture, in primary school, and determine whether this type of furniture is well-designed and promotes good sitting posture at school by taking into account the dimensions of the children. A total of 180 (90 male and 90 female) students, from three primary schools in Thessaloniki, Greece, participated in the study. Their ages ranged from 7 to 12 years. The following human body dimensions were measured: stature, elbow height, shoulder height, upper arm length, knee height, popliteal height and buttock-popliteal length. In addition, the dimensions were measured for four different types of chairs and five types of desks prevalent in classrooms. Finally, the anthropometric measures of the students and the furniture dimensions were compared in order to identify any incompatibility between them. The data indicate a mismatch between the students' bodily dimensions and the classroom furniture available to them. The chairs are too high and too deep and desks are also too high for the pupils. This situation has negative effects on the sitting posture of the children especially when reading and writing.     

Anthropometrics for the design of Bahraini school furniture

This paper presents the results of an anthropometric survey carried out on a sample of male and female Bahraini school children aged 6–12 years (N = 1174), to throw some light on the anthropometric parameters of Bahraini students in order to provide school furniture designers and importers with relevant data. A set of 44 body dimensions covering most body parts were measured, from which six body dimensions relevant to school furniture design were considered. Results show a gradual increase from age 6 to age 12 in all body dimensions. When compared with children from other nationalities, Bahraini children were almost all of medium height and weight. This paper also shows how the results can be used in school furniture design.

Relevance to industry

The 21st century has seen a lot of interest in children, especially school children as it is well known that many postural problems, such as back pain and repetitive strain injuries, start at an early age. Therefore, ergonomics design for children is as important as designing for adults. Anthropometric data are essential for this design.     

Handle positions in a holding task as a function of task height

Six handle positions in a two-handed container holding task were tested with the container at floor, waist and shoulder heights. Fifteen male and fifteen female manual materials handlers participated. Handle-position effects on forces exerted, heart rate and psychophysical indices were large compared with the effect produced by a 25% change in container weight. As in a previous study (at waist height only) and an industrial survey, handle positions providing both horizontal and vertical stability were better than symmetrical positions. Optimal angles of handle to container changed greatly with task height, giving almost horizontal angles at floor level and almost vertical angles at waist and shoulder level. Implications for the design of handle cutouts on containers are discussed     

Index for quality control in anthropometric surveys

In an anthropometric measurement process, there are many factors which are error sources even if the observers are highly trained. Systematic or bias errors are possible and they are not clearly noticeable. In this work we propose two simple and adimensional indices to use in the quality control of anthropometric surveys.

Such indices are applicable only to a few anthropometric variables but the results found by this control can be an indication of the quality of the complete measurement process. The indices are defined as

and ses index is the same when the measures are obtained in sitting position. The observer must take those measurements again when the index values are higher than a selected threshold value before approving or rejecting the measure.

Relevance to industry

Anthropometric data are used in a wide variety of consumer products and in processes of industrial design. Wrong precision of data could cause problems in the industrial products. Those indices are useful to improve the accuracy and quality control of data.     

Anthropometric characteristics of Chilean workers for ergonomic and design purposes

Obtaining an appropriate match between a product and its end-users requires anthropometric data, which are typically outdated and show variations among different countries. Chile had its anthropometric data taken nearly 20 years ago, thus they are probably outdated. The purpose of this article is to describe some anthropometric characteristics of Chilean workers. An anthropometric survey involving 27 measures and five calculated body dimensions was conducted in 2016. The measurements were based on ISO 7250 and ISO 15535 to ensure the highest standards possible, and a total of 2946 workers, aged from 18 to 76 years old, participated in the survey. The results showed that Chilean workers have smaller dimensions than Dutch and US workers but have larger dimensions than South Koreans. The data presented in this article constitute the most up-to-date anthropometric dataset describing the dimensions of Chilean workers.

Practitioner Summary: In Chile, women are smaller and weigh less than men, and both of these populations have high body mass index (BMIs). In addition, the Chilean population exhibits substantial differences compared with other international adult populations. The data presented in this article should be used as a reference when designing for Chilean workers.     

Microcomputer-aided material management in a furniture factory

This paper reports on the computer-aided techniques adopted in material management of a small-size furniture factory. The material management and optimization program, developed on an IBM PC-XT, consists of several modules. An editing module allows a user to create new process sheets or edit an existing process sheet. A second module track of the stock sheet size available. When several orders have been received at any one time, the user keys in the quantity of each order into the main program which searches through the files, extracts the dimension of the materials and groups them according to type and thickness. A sorting module automatically nests the patterns on the stock sheets and generates the optimized sawing sequences for an NC circular saw. A remnant management module maintains records of remnants according to user-definable area or length for future usage. Towards the end of the main program run, a report will be generated giving the sawing co-ordinates, sequences, utilization ratio, total stock sheets used, etc. The layout will be displayed graphically for visual inspection and confirmation. The optimization program greatly assists the local furniture factory in arriving at the correct production parameters.     

Innovative uses of ICT in Chilean schools

Abstract This paper presents some of the results of the study of seven cases of innovative pedagogical practices using ICT. The study was performed in the framework of the application of SITES M2 in Chile. The results are divided in two sections. First is a summary of each case, highlighting its innovative characteristics that serve as models of 'good practice' for Chilean teachers. Second, the results of the analysis of what teachers did are outlined; the impact on students and the type of teaching and learning activities in use. Results show that these projects did not provide evidence of having impact on students' learning as defined in the national curriculum. However, they show that students participating in these projects could learn other things, had the opportunity to develop abilities defined as cross-curricular and practised ICT related skills. The analysis of the teaching and learning activities highlights some deficiencies in the way that teachers implement new teaching strategies.     

Changes in the body size of UK and US children over the past three decades

The major sources of published anthropometric data on children are now over two decades old. Due to concern being expressed regarding the continued validity of such data, changes in the body sizes of the UK child population over the past three decades have been considered. Comparisons were also made between the size of the current UK child population to the current US child population, and to the most comprehensive source of measured data on US children (but which are now over 20 years old). The growth of children in the UK and US over the past three decades was assessed for an indication of secular growth trends. Stature increases were found to have generally been less than body weight increases (as a percentage) at 5th percentile, mean and 95th percentile levels for UK children, and UK children were found to be closer in size to US children now than they were 30 years ago.     

Participatory ergonomics intervention for improving human and production outcomes of a Brazilian furniture company

This article presents a participatory intervention in a furniture manufacturing company in Southern Brazil aiming to improve both ergonomic and production outcomes. The existing Tayloristic model was replaced by a cellular teamwork model. Work enlargement and enrichment, and the improvements in workstation design and process flow increased worker satisfaction and reduced postural risk, fatigue, body pain and production waste. Workload was reduced by 42% and productivity increased by 46% (25% being attributable to unnecessary load handling, waiting and transportation, and 21% attributable directly to manufacturing times). Workers' participation in the stages of problems identification, design and evaluation of solutions played a major role in these outcomes.Relevance to industryThis study indicates that it is possible to balance ergonomics and production demands, and that it is necessary to make it clear to management. The integration of macroergonomics and production management principles increases both worker well-being and productivity levels, thus leading to a more sustainable system.     

Lack of conformity between Indian classroom furniture and student dimensions: proposed future seat/table dimensions

Children spend one-quarter of a day in school. Of this, 60-80% of time is spent in the classroom. Classroom features, such as workspace and personal space play an important role in children's growth and performance as this age marks the period of anatomical, physiological and psychological developments. Since the classroom is an influential part of a student's life the present study focused on classroom furniture in relation to students' workspace and personal space requirements and standards and was conducted in five schools at Mumbai, India. Dimensions of 104 items of furniture (chairs and desks) were measured as were 42 anthropometric dimensions of 225 students from grade six to grade nine (age: 10-14 years). Questionnaire responses of 292 students regarding the perceived adequacy of their classroom furniture were collected. Results indicated that the seat and desk heights (450 mm, 757 mm respectively) were higher than the comparable students' anthropometric dimensions and that of the recommendations of Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) (340 + 3 mm, 380 + 3 mm seat-heights, 580 + 3 mm 640 + 3 mm desk-heights) as well as Time-Saver Standards (TSS) (381.0 mm seat-height and 660.4 mm desk-height). The depth of the seats and the desks (299 mm, 319 mm, respectively) were less than comparable students' anthropometric dimensions and the recommendations of BIS (IS 4837: 1990). Students reported discomfort in shoulder, wrist, knee and ankle regions. Based on the students' anthropometric data, proposed future designs with fixed table-heights and adjustable seat-heights along with footrests were identified.     

Sex differences in anthropometry for school furniture design

This paper is concerned with anthropometric dimensions of young Koreans and their interrelationships for school furniture design. Ten anthropometric measurements were taken from 1248 subjects, age range 6-17. The study investigated sex differences in interrelationships between body dimensions, to provide suitable sizes of chair and desk for boys and girls. The results showed that stature had a high relationship to body dimensions for school furniture design, and that there were significant sex differences in relationships between stature and the body dimensions. In particular, boys above 126 cm in stature required higher desk and chair heights than girls of the same stature. On the other hand, girls above 120 cm in stature required a larger depth and breadth of chair than boys of the same stature.     

The effect of secular trends in the classroom furniture mismatch: support for continuous update of school furniture standards

In order to create safer schools, the Chilean authorities published a Standard regarding school furniture dimensions. The aims of this study are twofold: to verify the existence of positive secular trend within the Chilean student population and to evaluate the potential mismatch between the anthropometric characteristics and the school furniture dimensions defined by the mentioned standard. The sample consists of 3078 subjects. Eight anthropometric measures were gathered, together with six furniture dimensions from the mentioned standard. There is an average increase for some dimensions within the Chilean student population over the past two decades. Accordingly, almost 18% of the students will find the seat height to be too high. Seat depth will be considered as being too shallow for 42.8% of the students. It can be concluded that the Chilean student population has increased in stature, which supports the need to revise and update the data from the mentioned Standard.