Werner Braun: Carpet as a safety issue

ATLANTA — This time next week marks a very significant day around the Braun household. It is the final day of freedom for our children, the unofficial end of summer, or as it is commonly known to most: the last day before school starts.

Like so many proud parents, I’ll awake the next day anxious to see the children off to school, knowing the capable hands which will mold them for the upcoming school year wait. I’ll drop them off at school with a fresh supply of hugs, kisses and well-wishes, and like most I’ll feel just a little sentimental as to how fast they are racing towards adulthood as they scamper off to join their new classmates.

As I make my way back through the school building, though, I’ll almost certainly take the opportunity to assess the surrounding learning environment. After all, so much more goes into the education of our children than simply teaching and learning. As someone with children who occupy my highest priority, I am most proud to be a part of the carpet industry that dominates our surrounding landscape because I am innately aware of the benefits carpet have, and the role it plays in not only my children’s learning environment, but also the role it will have as they move into the workplace.

I tout carpet’s benefits in venues across the world, but it is carpet’s benefits right here close to home that holds special meaning to me. I’ve used this space in the past to tout those benefits, from safety issues such as slip and fall accidents, to acoustic benefits (noise absorption and audibility issues), to health factors such as improved indoor air quality. I’ve spoken of the money saved that can be used elsewhere in our school systems because of the savings realized thru cost of maintenance when carpet is utilized.

But one of my favorite benefits and one often overlooked is carpet’s ergonomic advantage over other floor coverings and what it can mean to us. More and more people are recognizing the inherent aesthetic and functional qualities of carpet that make it so ergonomically sound.

The carpet industry has responded to our society’s desire for walking comfort just as the sports shoe industry responded to the desire for a shoe that is designed for both performance and comfort. Walking creates an impact force averaging 1.3 times one’s body weight with each step. Carpet’s cushioning effects reduce that stress on the legs and back, and diminish fatigue, all of which contributes greatly to a more productive atmosphere. Teachers and workers are required to stand and walk throughout the day. Dr. Mark Redfern, director of the Human Movement Analysis Laboratory and assistant professor at the University of Pittsburgh, has conducted extensive research into the ergonomic effects of various floor coverings.

His research confirms the reduction in leg and back fatigue as well as the increased morale and productivity by those who utilize carpet. When evaluating the overall ergonomic effects of carpet, standing comfort, slips and falls and sound control are the three critical measurements to address in a floor coverings success.

Falls are more likely to occur on hard surfaces than soft surfaces, and those falls are more likely to produce injury. Data shows that nearly 87 percent of falls occur on hard surface floors and of those falls nearly 91 percent received injuries. In contrast, only 13 percent of falls occur on soft surface flooring. Of those, only 15 percent sustain injuries.

In regards to sound control, excessive noise and reverberation interfere with speech intelligibility, resulting in reduced understanding and therefore reduced learning. In United States classrooms, the speech intelligibility rating is 75 percent or less. That means that, in speech intelligibility tests, listeners with normal hearing can understand only 75 percent of the read from a list. Imagine trying to understand a textbook with every fourth word illegible.

There is, however, a cure. There only two ways to reduce reverberation time in a classroom: either the volume must be decreased or the sound absorption must be increased. Sound absorption is one of carpet’s intricate benefits.

Just remember as you drop of your children next week and see carpet in the learning environment exactly what an important role it plays in your child’s productivity.

Werner Braun is the president of the Dalton-based Carpet and Rug Institute.

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