Teachers’ awareness and practices on school ergonomics in Karachi, Pakistan

Abstract

Students spend most of the quality hours of the entire day in a school environment. Therefore, their safety and security are priorities of school administration and teachers to keep them secure from injuries and other health issues. Students mostly rely on teachers for their daily academic activities within a classroom environment. Therefore, it is essential to find out teachers’ perceptions and awareness about ergonomics risk factors and their practices to reduce these factors for the safety of the children within the classroom environment. A qualitative case study was conducted in a private school of Pakistan, to investigate teachers’ perceptions about school ergonomics and their practices which directly or indirectly influence school ergonomics. Five school teachers of primary class 3 were interviewed through a self-developed semi-structured interview protocol. The result indicated that ergonomics is highly valued in school education for students’ safety and health. Teachers introduce appropriate physical exercise in the classroom to keep children healthy and active during school hours and provide postural awareness for developing proper body posture. Counselling parents on ergonomics risk factors was suggested, along with ergonomically designed furniture in the classroom and the use of light material backpacks are also recommended.