GB2459880A - A site safety system for monitoring the position of personnel and a hat for personnel which includes a position transmitting device - Google Patents

Abstract

A safety system, for use in work sites (eg construction, manufacturing and industrial sites) is set up with each person working on the site, and each piece of (eg mobile) machinery (e.g. a forklift truck 30) being equipped with a position locating device (32, 22). The device may be incorporated in a hard hat. The site is monitored over a wireless network which transmits to a master station (24) the real time position of each person and each piece of machinery and sends alerts back to the position indicating devices if a person and a machine get too close to each other. For example a person (42) in a first safety zone (36) may receive a warning through warning lights on his hat and/or through speaker that he is getting too close to a forklift truck (30). A person in a second safety zone (34) will be alerted in a similar manner but at the same time the operator of the forklift truck may also be alerted. The system may be used to automatically disable the forklift truck. The site may include sites sensors 26 positioned around the periphery of the site to create an infrastructure which enables the positioning system to work, alternatively GPS may be used. The system may be connected to a personal records database (containing user certificates etc) plant tool equipment database containing (rules of use, COSH etc). A hat for personnel is also claimed.

Description

Site Safety System This invention relates to a method and apparatus for improving safety on construction sites and/or other areas where personnel and machinery are working alongside one another or unsafe working areas.

Safety of workpeople on construction sites is a constant anxiety to site managers as there will usually be people moving around the site, not in fixed patterns, and close to heavy machinery such as excavators, dumper trucks and cranes. Many sites also encompass areas of danger or environmental sensitivity which only specific individuals or plant are authorised to enter. If a person is standing too close to a machine or the materials it is working when the machine is in operation, accidents can result. Often the machines are noisy when operating, so a machine operator may not hear a shouted warning.

Modem construction equipment is also fast moving so the time available to avoid conflicts can be very short.

According to the invention, there is provided a method for improving safety on a worksite where personnel are employed, the method comprising the steps of * equipping each individual working on the site with a wireless position locating device * equipping pieces of machinery on the site with position locating devices * equipping the site with monitoring means to locate each person's position on the site, in real time arranging the monitoring means so that it signals to a machinery operator if a person is close to the machine when the machine is operating.

According to a second aspect of the invention, there is provided a method for improving safety on a worksite where personnel are employed, the method comprising the steps of * equipping each individual working on the site with a wireless position locating device * equipping pieces of machinery on the site with position locating devices * equipping the site with monitoring means to locate each person's position on the site, in real time * arranging the monitoring means so that it signals to a person if that person is close to a machine when the machine is operating or close to a designated un-safe working area or an environmentally sensitive zone By monitoring the position of the individuals on the site, and the position of site machinery, it is possible to alert a machine operator if a person is too close to the machine during operation and even to shut down the machine if the person is extremely close. Alternatively or (preferably) additionally, the system may signal to the person to alert the person to the proximity of a working machine.

The worksite may be a construction site where workmen are moving around and heavy machinery such as excavators, dumper trucks and cranes are in use.

On a constructiOn site, workmen do not move around the site along structured pathways, and as building proceeds, the movements of people on the site will change. The invention however extends to any worksite, whether outdoors or indoors where work people are close to potentially dangerous machinery or designated non-working areas.

The invention also provides a hard hat for workpeopie, the hat containing a personnel unit which includes a position transmitting device.

The hat may also have a microphone with a wireless connection to a master station so that a person wearing the hat can transmit messages to the master station and possibly directly to other people on the site. A speaker may also be included so that two-way conversations can take place, for example between personnel at the top and bottom of a building or large site. The hat may also have an alert light system under the brim or through a heads up display, to give an instant warning to the wearer if he is moving into danger. Other environmental detectors can also be fitted in the hat, for example to detect noise levels, excessive temperatures, vibration levels or toxic vapours. Signals from any such detectors can be transmitted to the master station and the person wearing the hat can be warned to move away from a place of danger or cease a particular activity.

The invention also provides a site safety system comprising a site-wide wireless network with a master station at which the position of workpeople and machinery on the site can be monitored in real time, and software at the master station can issue alerts if a person and a machine get too close when the machine is in operation.

The invention therefore provides a system to locate individuals electronically in real time using sensors and wireless technology. Using that information in combination with digital geographical software can create safe working three-dimensional zones around site locations, equipment including plant tools and other individuals. It can also transmit alerts and messages to individuals to control their actions.

The system may also use personal information such as access levels, competency criteria, training levels, and certifications levels to provide smart' management of individual's actions.

Personal environmental sensors (which may be mounted in a hat, or carried elsewhere on the body) will also record and transmit information back to the master station to monitor and provide alerts on issues such as noise level exposure, vibration levels and durations, odour and fume detection, moisture levels.

More general site information can also be recorded and controlled such as site security, emergency evacuation monitoring, working time monitoring and general site information broadcasts. Personnel units in a hat will allow two-way communication with other units and master base stations using voice, lights and vibration options along with links to mobile phone networks.

Plant and equipment can be tagged and provided with transmitters to be identifiable within the system to identify its location and status in real time.

Operated mobile plant will include on-board monitoring and alert reporting of the proximity of personnel. These systems will have the ability to control and disable the plant to avoid conflicts.

Hand operated equipment can also be fitted with a unit and integrated into the system so that, for example, the duration of operation of a tool which an operator should only use for a restricted time period, can be monitored via the system. Exposure levels for hand arm vibration in particular can be monitored and controlled in this manner.

The system can make it possible to enable only individuals who are appropriately trained, authorised, certified, cleared etc to operate specific items of plant and equipment.

A stand-alone system will also enable individual pieces of plant and equipment to be setup with onboard monitor and display to locate just local personnel to that unit. Again, these individuals will be alerted of levels of proximity to the plant and the plant could also be controlled/disabled as a result of personnel proximity.

The system will include a hazard recording function that allows a user to record a time, location and description of a site hazard requiring action.

The software will enable visual on-screen locating of all staff and tagged plant/equipment. It will use a plan, map or aerial view geographical base to locate all items digitally. All tagged items will be linkable to relevant data base information on that item such as: Personal Records: Training and experience levels * Certifications * Health records * Accident history * Equipment users Plant, Tools and Equipment: * Rules for usage i.e. Training and competence * Noise * Vibration * COSSH Service requirements The site layout for access levels and alerts will be able to be managed via graphical, on-screen manipulation i.e. No go zones, safe areas, evacuation points, height and depth restrictions. All collected information will be securely logged for legal use such as accident investigations, insurance claims etc. The system will also provide a flexible suite of reporting tools including detailed exception reporting and alerts to remote users locally and external to the site.

Mobile smart units with screens (similar to a PDA) will enable on-screen mobile access to location information of personnel and equipment. These units will also provide smart' information dependant on the user's location e.g. Method statements, site rules, COSSH data, plant/equipment data etc. This approach will also be used to display information on visors built into the users hard hat using a Heads Up Display system.

Options for entering information into the software system will include scanning, swiping and proximity registering for site inductions, briefing session attendances, training course attendances and accreditations or licence cards.

The invention will now be further described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a front view of a hard hat fitted with a personnel unit according to the invention; Figure 2 is an underneath view of the hat of Figure 1; Figure 3 is a first schematic representation of part of a construction site with a system according to the invention installed; Figure 4 is a second schematic representation of part of a construction site with a system according to the invention installed; and Figure 5 is a third schematic representation of part of a construction site with a system according to the invention installed.

Figure 1 shows a hard hat 10 with a conventional outer shell and a brim 12.

Hard hats of this type are compulsory wear on building sites in the UK. The hat 10 has a position locating device built into it and other features to enhance the safety of the wearer. Mounted beneath the brim are two warning lights 14.

These two lights may be different colours to give different levels of warning. For example, one light may be illuminated or flash to advise caution to the wearer of the hat and the other may alert the wearer to the fact he should stop or remove himself from a place of danger.

The hat also has mounted to it a microphone 16 and a speaker 18 so that the wearer can give and receive verbal commands or information.

Inside the hat, as can be seen in Figure 2, sensors 20 can be mounted to sense environmental conditions such as temperature, noise levels, vibrations or toxic vapours. The position locating device 22 may also be mounted in a similar position in the hat.

Figures 1 and 2 are intended to be purely schematic. It will be apparent that a certain amount of circuitry, wiring and power source will be needed within the hat, and the shell of the hat may need to be modified to accommodate these necessary functional components.

The position locating device 22 communicates with a wireless network on a construction site to locate, in real time, the position of the person wearing the haton the site.

Figure 3 shows a portion of a construction site. To enable the wireless communication to take place between the position locating devices in the hats of the personnel on the site, and a master station 24, site sensors 26 are positioned, probably around the periphery of the site to create the infrastructure within the site which enables the system to operate. Alternatively the system may use remote services such as GPS systems to achieve the same 3-dimensional positioning of tagged items. The site sensors 26 will preferably combine to produce a scanned field throughout the site which enables the location of people or equipment fitted with locating devices to be located.

However the particular operating system or principle used to locate people on the site may differ from that described.

In Figure 3, a forklift truck 30 is shown. The truck has a locating device 32 which communicates with the network. It is established on setting out the network (or the device 32 may be programmed appropriately) that a danger zone 34 should be established around the truck 30, and a warning zone 36 established outside the danger zone. Although these zones are shown by lines on the drawing of Figure 3, it will be appreciated that in fact they are established by electronic signals. Those personnel at 38 and 40 are outside both zones and are free to move around and receive no communication through the network regarding the truck 30.

However the person indicated at 42 is within the warning zone 36 and he will receive, through the warning lights on his hat and/or through the speaker on his hat a warning that he is getting too close to the forklift truck 30 and he should move away.

The person at 44 is within the danger zone 34 and will be alerted in a similar way to the fact that he is in a dangerous position, and at the same time the operator of the forklift truck will be alerted, through the sensor 32, to the fact that there is a person in the danger zone. The network may be set up so that the presence of the person 44 actually stops the truck 30 from operating.

Figure 4 illustrates that the system can detect differences in vertical separation as well as horizontal separation. Figure 4 shows an excavator 50 digging a trench 52 and in this case the danger zone is established at 54 and the warning zone at 56. The person indicated at 58 is in the danger zone and would be alerted to remove himself immediately from the danger zone, and at the same time the operator of the excavator 50 will be alerted to the presence of a person in the danger zone. The person at 60 is in the warning zone and will be alerted to take appropriate action.

In Figures 3 and 4, the danger zone and warning zone are determined around the position of the plant 30, 50, but there may be other instances where there are constant movements of vehicles which do not belong to the site and which therefore do not have sensors 32. This situation is shown in Figure 5, where an excavator 70 is digging out earth which is being removed by trucks 72. The trucks are coming onto the site to be loaded with earth and are then taking the earth away from the site. A danger zone 74 is established over a fixed area of the ground around the excavator and the place where trucks are being loaded.

A fixed warning zone 76 is provided outside the danger zone.

Movement of plant and personnel around the site is monitored on the master station indicated schematically at 24. The master station may be continuously monitored by a person, but wit! be programmed to issue alerts to people in warning or danger zones, without manual intervention.

-10 -Since each person working on a site has his or her own hard hat, the circuitry and transmitter in the hat can be used to store personal information about that person, and the information may be transmitted from the master station. In particular the personal record of each individual may record the extent to which each person has been trained and/or toolbox talks which they have received.

For construction site operators, it is very important to keep an audit trail of all the work which goes on on the site. It is a prime aim of the system described here to avoid accidents or situations which might result in an accident, but the system will also provide a log which can be consulted in the unfortunate event of an accident, to establish the cause of the accident. -11 -

Claims (18)

1. Claims 1. A method for improving safety on a worksite where personnel are employed, the method comprising the steps of * equipping each individual working on the site with a wireless position locating device * equipping pieces of machinery on the site with position locating devices * equipping the site with monitoring means to locate each person's io position on the site, in real time * arranging the monitoring means so that it signals to a machinery operator if a person is close to the machine when the machine is operating.
2. 2. A method as claimed in Claim 1, wherein the monitoring means also signals to the person.
3. 3. A method for improving safety on a worksite where personnel are employed, the method comprising the steps of * equipping each individual working on the site with a wireless position locating device * equipping pieces of machinery on the site with position locating devices * equipping the site with monitoring means to locate each person's position on the site, in real time * arranging the monitoring means so that it signals to a person if that person is close to a machine when the machine is operating or close to a designated un-safe working area or an environmentally sensitive zone.
4. 4. A method as claimed in Claim I or Claim 2, wherein the worksite is a construction site.
5. 5. A method as claimed in Claim I or Claim 2, wherein the worksite is a manufacturing site.
6. 6. A method as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the position locating devices are incorporated into hard hats worn by each individual.
7. 7. A method as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the position locating devices send a signal which identifies the individual as well as locating the position of that individual.
8. 8. A method as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the site monitoring means comprises a plurality of site sensors surrounding the site and scanning the site to locate each position locating device and reporting that information to a master station.
9. 9. A hat for workpeople, the hat containing a personnel unit which includes a position transmitting device.
10. 10. A hat as claimed in Claim 9, being a hard hat for wear on a construction, manufacturing or industrial site.
11. II. A hat as claimed in Claim 9 or Claim 10 which has a microphone with a wireless connection to a master station so that a person wearing the hat can transmit messages to the master station. -13-
12. 12. A hat as claimed in Claim 11, wherein the hat also includes a speaker so that two-way conversations can take place.
13. 13. A hat as claimed in any one of Claims 9 to 12, wherein the hat has a brim and alert lights mounted under the brim, the lights being responsive to signals transmitted via site monitoring means to give a warning to the wearer if he is moving into danger.
14. 14. A hat as claimed in any one of Claims 9 to 13, including environmental detectors fitted in the hat to detect one or more of excessive noise levels, excessive temperatures, vibration or toxic vapours.
15. 15. A site safety system comprising a site-wide wireless network with a master station and position locating devices carried by personnel on the site and by machinery on the site, wherein the wireless network can monitor the positions of personnel and machinery in real time and can issue alerts if a person and a machine get too close when the machine is in operation.
16. 16. A site safety system substantially as herein described with reference to Figures 3, 4 and 5 of the accompanying drawings.
17. 17 A hat substantially as herein described with reference Figures 1 and 2 of the accompanying drawings.
18. 18. A method for improving safety on worksites substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.