Kyotaro Funatsu

Effect of furniture weight on carrying, lifting, and turning of chairs and desks among elementary school children

Rearranging furniture in elementary school classrooms encourages classroom activities. In elementary schools in Indonesia and some other developing countries, usually only one style of furniture is used for all children, and the furniture is heavy and oversized for younger children. This affects their ability to carry it. The objective of this study is to investigate the effects of elementary school furniture weight and children’s age on performance of three carrying tasks (carrying a chair, lifting and turning a chair on a desk, and carrying both a chair and a desk together), from the ergonomics point of view. A total of 42 schoolchildren (ages 6–9; 17 Indonesian, 25 Japanese) participated in this study. Two types of Japanese chairs (Chair A and B, weight: 3.2 kg and 3.9 kg), one type of Indonesian chair (Chair C, weight: 5.0 kg), and two types of desks (height: 58 cm and 68 cm) were used. Indonesian chairs took significantly longer time to carry than the two Japanese chairs, and there was a significant negative relationship between age and task time for Chairs B and C, but not Chair A. Success rates for lifting and turning the chair declined as age decreased and chair weight increased, but were not significantly influenced by desk height. Success rates for carrying a chair and desk together significantly decreased with heavier furniture. Children aged six showed an extremely low success rate in almost all conditions. In conclusion, children’s ability to carry furniture is affected by their age and furniture characteristics, especially weight. In order to encourage classroom activities in elementary school, school furniture should be of appropriate weight. Supervision for younger children is required during classroom furniture arrangement.

Considering Children’s Methods of Grasping and Carrying Elementary School Chairs for Easy Carrying, Lifting, and Turning:

Carrying, lifting, and turning chairs improve learning activities in schools, which leads to higher quality education. However, it has been shown that elementary school chairs in Indonesia are too heavy for children aged 6 to 9 to easily lift and carry. The present study aimed to investigate children’s methods of carrying chairs as well as lifting and turning them onto desks. Forty-two children (aged 6-9), including 17 Indonesians (6 boys, 11 girls) and 25 Japanese (12 boys, 13 girls), participated in the study. The experiment used three elementary school chairs (one Indonesian, two Japanese) and two desk types (standard and tall). The most popular method for carrying a chair was to carry it in front of the body with the chair in a lateral position (75%). In all carrying methods, participants showed a preference for grasping two particular points to hold the chair. Children lifted and turned chairs most successfully when they used this popular grasping pattern. The carrying method and the popular grasping pattern for carrying, lifting, and turning chairs need to be considered when redesigning heavy Indonesian elementary school chairs to improve the ease of transport without decreasing the weight.