The ABCs of Ergonomics
By: Derek Timm

Students in primary and secondary school, as well as teachers and other staff members, can expect to be at school an average of seven hours a day. This time and energy devoted to learning new subjects and teaching young minds affects more than a student’s intellect; it can also take a toll on one’s physique.

It is essential for learning facilities to provide comfortable and functional furnishings that students and staff can adjust to their individual needs, including height, build, and how they prefer to learn and work. Additionally, the incorporation of ergonomic considerations in educational facilities not only helps circumvent impending repetitive stress injuries, but it is also a smart economic decision.

Helping Students Make the Grade
A comfortable and flexible learning environment could have a significant impact on a student’s ability to spend hours in class learning. Often, students have no choice but to use the same desk and workstation as the student before them, and it’s safe to say that the comfortable height of a desk for a varsity basketball player is most likely uncomfortable for a more petite gymnast.

With the diverse demographics of a student population, including gender and difference in developmental rates, a one-size-fits-all setting is not conducive in today’s learning environment. Many people can be expected to use a single workstation on any given day, and the thought of slouching to use a desk, straining to reach a lab shelf, or leaning in an uncomfortable position to view a computer monitor – all motions proven to cause physical discomfort and fatigue – does not motivate students. To address this, learning establishments should be equipped with ergonomic workspace solutions that adapt to body size, strength, and range of motion to enhance performance and minimize fatigue and injury.

Aside from the health advantages ergonomics bring to the learning environment, adaptable furnishings also help foster collaboration, which is a key element in the learning process. Incorporating adjustable workstations, monitor mounts, and keyboard and mouse accessories throughout the school allow students to more easily work with others to complete group projects. For example, they can pivot their computer monitor to the appropriate position and adjust their workstation to their individual desired height or to more effectively prepare for a group presentation. Teachers can even move their computer monitor toward the class for an illustration of the day’s lesson.

Learning Goes Beyond the Books
In addition to teaching reading, writing, and arithmetic, many learning facilities are also responsible for the health of students and faculty. Common issues – repetitive stress injuries including carpal tunnel syndrome, tendonitis, and other medical conditions indicating damage in muscles, tendons, and nerves – often result from the improper worktables and equipment or not paying attention to warning signs.

To help students and staff learn how to prevent these injuries from occurring, schools can utilize simple awareness techniques – placing informational posters and packets in study areas and break rooms, organizing assemblies, starting an ergonomics club, etc. – to teach injury prevention strategies to students and staff alike, such as recognizing fatigue, avoiding at-risk positions for extended periods of time, taking breaks, and varying or altering tasks. The following guidelines are also essential to consider:

Eye Breaks
Viewing computer screens is extremely straining on the eyes. Briefly look away from the screen every 15 minutes to allow the eye muscles to relax.

Micro Breaks
Take brief two-minute breaks every 30 to 60 minutes to stand, stretch, or move around. This provides an opportunity to rest hands and wrists and relieves pressure from any strained positions.

Stretch Breaks
Perform simple, gentle stretches for a minute every one to two hours to help relieve muscle fatigue.

Ergonomic Education
Take advantage of the many publications and software programs available to help understand the importance of ergonomically correct behavior.

It is crucial to pay attention to physical strains that can be experienced from repetitive motions and the use of fixed worked spaces. In addition to deflecting personal potential injuries, a school’s incorporation of ergonomics will also set a positive example for students. 

Passing the Final Test
There is no question that teaching ergonomics is beneficial, but more should be done to ensure the health and comfort of students and staff. Ideally, this means the adoption of height-adjustable desks and workstations, keyboard trays, and articulating monitor mounts, which can all adapt to the user’s personal comfort and address key issues, such as healthy posture and prevention of muscle strain and fatigue.

Essential components of adjustable workstations include the ability to alternate between seated and standing positions and optimal configuration of “primary front reach zone” by placing frequently used tools (such as the keyboard and mouse) within easy reach. Additionally, computer monitors mounted on articulating arms allow users to position them for comfort. These ergonomic considerations create the ability for users to adjust equipment to their body size, reach, and focal distance, helping to stop injury before it starts.

Every school has its own set of needs and requirements when adopting ergonomic practices. This can be especially true when remodeling and refurnishing. As schools look to develop new study areas, classrooms, offices, and meeting areas, many factors need to be considered, from material selection and identifying appropriate and durable desks and workstations to style and cost efficiency.

In the overall assessment of whether ergonomics should be addressed at a school, ask a simple question: Are the senior English teacher, the basketball coach, the principal’s secretary, and the 16-year old transfer student, for example, all of equal height and build? If the answer is no (and I’m guessing it is), then clearly the same workstations won’t “fit” each member of a school’s community, and ergonomic solutions need to be considered.

Derek Timm is product manager/national technical services manager for Workrite Ergonomics, Inc., a leading provider of high-quality, innovative ergonomic products, www.workriteergo.com. 

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The Ergonomic Benefits of Slanted Desks
By Paul Magaudda

Remember back in the day when all the school desks were slanted? Ever wonder why they were designed this way? Unfortunately, in classrooms today, the slanted desks are no longer being used.

Educators figured out a long time ago that it is a lot easier to read and write on a slanted surface. It has everything to do with ergonomics…ergonomics as it relates to reading and writing. When reading, you naturally tilt the reading material toward you. It is a more comfortable reading position. This actually puts more of the page in focus at one time, reducing the strain on your eyes. It also allows you to more easily track lines and presents the printed characters at a consistence perspective as you read down the page. The result is the brain having to works less on interpreting what it is seeing and allows more analytical resources to understand what has just been read, which leads to less fatigue and better comprehension. 

Pioneering experiments conducted by Dr. Darrel Boyd Harmon and subsequent research by Dr. John Pierce and Dr. Steven Greenspan have shown that there is an integral working relationship between posture, work distance, and work surface. Their studies have shown that having your work presented on a sloped work surface, with an angle at between 20 and 23 degrees, sitting no closer than fist to elbow length distance from the work surface, will reduce your heart rate, induce a more regular and deeper breathing pattern, and reduce neck muscle and overall body tension. A slanted surface compels your body to sit in a more upright posture. This simple arrangement allows your body to naturally move into what is known as the Harmon Distance. This is the optimal distance from the eyes to the working surface. 

Concurrently, by writing on a sloped work surface, you will reduce the fatigue experienced during writing and increase control. When you write on a flat surface, you are only utilizing the muscles in your wrist. I am sure you can all relate to the cramping experienced in your wrist when writing for any length of time. As you raise your arm into a slanted position, your body now starts utilizing the muscles in the forearm, as well. This posture gives a person more control for better penmanship and allows for longer endurance. Architects and calligraphers utilize a slanted work surface for this very reason.  

Classroom designers and teachers a century ago understood the importance of proper ergonomics in the classroom and the use of slanted desks in a learning environment. It is amazing how something so simple in concept yet so effective in application can make such a huge benefit. It begs to question why slanted desks were taken out of the classroom in the first place. Since flat desks were introduced to the classroom, reading scores have dropped considerably. European schools are now reintroducing slanted desks in their school classrooms, and we should also rethink the ergonomics of learning.

Paul Magaudda is the founding partner and president of Visual Edge, Inc., www.visualedgesb.com.

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Ergonomic Aspects of Classroom Furniture
By Bob Roskos

Over the past decade, the availability of ergonomically supportive classroom furniture for your private school has increased dramatically. Pick up a catalog or visit a Web site of any major education furniture manufacturer or supplier, and you’ll be sure to find a wide selection of chairs and desks that are advertised as ergonomically beneficial.

But, how can you distinguish ergonomically important features and benefits from those that are less significant? This editorial provides useful guidelines.

Chair models with a seat-height adjustment range of approximately 15” to 20” can be comfortably used by most high school students and larger intermediate school pupils. Adjustable-height chairs with a range of approximately 14” to 17” – and a smaller chair shell – are great for many intermediate school students, as well as smaller high school students.

Fixed-height chairs tend to be preferred for elementary schools. Generally speaking, 10” and 12” seat-height chairs will be appropriate for most children in kindergarten and first grade; by contrast, in second through fifth or sixth grade, fixed seat heights ranging from 14” to 18” will comfortably support most students. 

To get a more precise feel for the needs of your school, it’s a good idea to measure the heights of a representative sample of students in each grade prior to each school year.  This will help you more accurately determine your specific seating needs as time goes by.

For classroom desks and tables, adjustability is the key. Models with a top-height range between 22” and 30” – or greater – can be adjusted to accommodate most students in elementary, intermediate, and high school settings. A top-height range of 17” to 25” is ideal for tables used in pre-K, kindergarten, and other early learning environments.

When evaluating classroom furniture, reviewing the accomplishments of product designers can be helpful. If designers have a history of working with established manufacturers on ergonomically supportive classroom furniture collections – and if any of these product lines have received recognized awards – it’s likely that their product designs will provide comfortable, dependable furniture solutions for your school.

Bob Roskos is the corporate copywriter for Virco, www.virco.com.