Education Business

In April 2008, FIRA published a document called ‘Safe Seats for Learning’ and launched a campaign to improve the ergonomics in schools. The aim was specifically to ensure that furniture is aesthetically pleasing, ergonomically designed, fit for purpose, good for children’s wellbeing, and can help improve academic achievements, especially for the new build within the BSF programme.
    
Lack of application ergonomics in schools has a detrimental effect on the children’s wellbeing and learning capabilities and consequent academic achievements.

A growing problem
Around 15 per cent of children by the age of 14 suffer from serious back pain and this percentage rises to about 20 per cent – nearly the rate of incidence in adults. Clearly we have to address this issue; as children become less and less mobile, they will be more prone to back problems. If we cannot get them to exercise or walk we should give them furniture that allows them to adopt good ergonomic dynamic postures.
    
Currently we spend about £20 per table chair combination and we expect to use this for ten years – nearly the length of schooling for a child. What this means is that we spend £2 per year per child on furniture. But just remember, a pair of trainers costs much more than this and we only expect to use it less than a year.
    
The result is uninspiring, uncomfortable, unhealthy furniture that can limit children’s learning capabilities by forcing them to adopt postures where their abdomens and chests are compressed, which redues oxygen intake. Consequently, this restricts the blood and oxygen supply getting to muscles, which affect growth, and to the brain, which enables learning.
    
Our European cousins easily spend four to five times the price we pay in the UK. It is therefore no wonder European children get much better furniture, which is exciting, durable, safe, ergonomic and back friendly, and consequently achieve better academically. In the UK we still have not accepted the link between wellbeing and academic achievements of children. We are prepared to provide fantastic school buildings and facilities but carry on furnishing them with inappropriate furniture.

Measuring kids
FIRA’s Ergonomics Unit has been working with the department of education, now the DCSF, since the 1970s. Through numerous studies undertaken over the years it has been shown that the furniture in schools was not matching the sizes of children and forcing children to adopt unergonomic and unhealthy postures. Introduction of computers in schools has been rapid but no consideration was given to furniture on which these were placed and on the seats children were sitting.
    
Mismatched furniture in terms of size can cause excessive slouching or not allow the child’s feet to touch the floor and therefore can restrict the blood supply to lower legs and feet. This combination would lead to the child becoming restless and ‘fidgety’ in class resulting in a lack of concentration as the lesson progresses.
    
Bad furniture can lead to bad posture and, if sustained over long periods, to musculoskeletal disorders such as back, neck and shoulder ache or pain. Any damage to a child’s back that occurs in their youth is very likely to cause them discomfort later in life.
    
In 2001 FIRA, funded by FIRA, BESA and DfEE, carried out a survey of children. The key finding of the study was that children have been growing steadily since after the Second World War. A previous FIRA survey of children in 1971 showed that children have been growing at a steady rate of 1cm per decade since the end of the World War II. The 2001 FIRA survey showed that the children were still growing at the same rate.
    
The main growth has been in the legs and arms, not so much on the trunk; clearly the children would at least need higher tables and chairs. They have also become heavier than their contemporaries in 1971, so the chairs and tables have to cope with heavier weight of children.

Developing standards
The FIRA survey, along with other surveys from Netherlands, France, Italy and Germany, was used to develop a European school furniture standard. The standard, BS EN 1729, was published in December 2006. The new standard, for the first time in school furniture, introduced the concept and dimension for height adjustable tables and chairs and standing height work surfaces. Having standing height tables should allow children to alternate between sitting and standing postures.  
    
This new standard has encouraged new designs of furniture, which are not only good for children’s wellbeing, specifically for their backs, but also aesthetically pleasing, giving the perception of comfort. In essence, the standard will ensure that the furniture purchased will fit the sizes of the children and be safe for children to use.
    
Under the BSF programme for the next ten to 15 years, an unprecedented amount of money is going to be spent to build new schools and upgrade existing schools. Experience so far shows that much too little money is spent on furniture (under £40 for a table and chair). This manifests itself as fantastic buildings being furnished with poor, unfit and cheap furniture. In other words ergonomics plays no part in selection and specifying school furniture.
    
Even though all the furniture for schools should comply with the BS EN 1729 standard, the specification based solely on this does not result in ergonomic or fit for purpose furniture. An ‘inside out’ approach to the specification of school furniture and fittings is needed. An outcome based furniture specification incorporating ergonomics principles rather than traditional specific tables and chairs from a catalogue would ensure children’s wellbeing and improve their concentration and academic achievements.
    
There are currently only a limited number of standards for furniture in public sector schools’ tenders. Detailed specification of furniture and equipment is often extremely vague and there has been no standard agreement promoting quality, longevity or procurement. This need not be the case.

Certification scheme
FIRA has always believed that carefully selected furniture and equipment will produce effective working environments that in turn will help deliver key organisational objectives, and this applies as much to the education sector as it does to efficiencies within commercial organisations.  
    
In order to address the issues raised in the Safe Seats for Learning document and identify furniture that is not only fit the children, but also ergonomic, fit for purpose, durable and sustainable, FIRA has developed an assessment process for school furniture; the FIRA Certification Scheme: School Furniture. This certification scheme builds on FIRA’s existing programmes for products and services, which are awarded where standards are surpassed. This is the first such scheme for furniture for educational institutions, and includes ergonomic, technical and sustainability factors that far exceed existing standards.
    
FIRA Certification Scheme: School Furniture is obtained by suppliers and manufacturers and requested by specifiers and purchasers to make informed decisions.

Benefits
What are the benefits of FIRA Certification Scheme?
For schools:

• Encourages excellence by enabling greater flexibility in teaching/learning
• Shows best practice in innovation in the approach to design and interactivity
• Fit for purpose furniture with long-term guarantees saves resources in the long term.
  

For teachers and children:

• Safeguards wellbeing through appropriate ergonomics
• Encourages creativity through flexibility and design 
• Shows care and respect for children.
  

For specifers:

• Universally accepted standard for school furniture
• Provides a blueprint for fit for purpose, flexible and ergonomically designed furniture with a proven track record
• Supports the current climate for quality in investment
• Gives definitive information in an area that has been lacking in the past.
  

For manufacturers:

• Identifies furniture ranges that are high quality and fit for purpose
• Provides a competitive advantage over other suppliers
• Social responsibility in knowing that the furniture produced is benefiting students, teachers and communities.
  

For more information
For further information on the Safe seats for Learning and the FIRA’s Certification Scheme for school furniture, please contact Head of Ergonomics UNIT, Levent Çaglar at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it . Safe Seats for Learning document can be downloaded from FIRA’s website, www.fira.co.uk.