DESIGN OF ERGONOMICALLY COMPLIANT DESKS AND CHAIRS FOR PRIMARY PUPILS IN IBADAN, NIGERIA

Selected anthropometric measures of two hundred primary school pupils in Ibadan North Local Government Area of Oyo State were used to design classroom desks and tables. The relevant anthropometric measures were popliteal height, buttock-popliteal length, elbow rest height, hip breadth, shoulder height and elbow-hand grip. The pupils with age range from 5 to 14 years (mean = 9.8 years, SD = 2.9 years) were grouped into three age groups of 5-8 years, 9-12 years and 13-14 years. From the data obtained; 5th, 10th, 50th, 75th, 90th and 95th percentiles were computed. In addition, 2-Tail Paired samples T-Test was conducted for the measurements of the male and female pupils for the three- age groups at 0.05 level of significance. Based on the anthropometric data obtained, this paper proposes furniture design dimensions for seat height (32.0 cm, 37.3 cm and 40.3 cm for 5-8 years, 9 to 12 years and 13-14 years respectively). It proposes seat depth (33.0 cm, 38.0 cm and 41.0 cm for 5-8 years, 9 to 12 years and 13-14 years respectively) and seat width (30.0 cm, 31.0 cm and 31.0 cm for 5-8 years, 9 to 12 years and 13-14 years respectively). Moreover, it proposes backrest height (upper) (39.0 cm, 43.0 cm and 44.0 cm for 5-8 years, 9 to 12 years and 13-14 years respectively) and arm rest (12.0 cm, 13.0 cm and 15.0 cm for 5-8 years, 9 to 12 years and 13-14 years respectively). It also proposes desk height (42.0 cm, 49.0 cm and 53.3 cm for 5- 8 years, 9 to 12 years and 13-14 years respectively