PROVIDING CONFINED SPACE PERMITS AND CONFINED SPACE ACCESS PROCEDURES

• US 20140244527A1
• Filed: 05/06/2014
• Published: 08/28/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 10/16/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Rockwell Automation Technologies Incorporated (Rockwell Automation, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: ESC Services Inc (Rockwell Automation, Inc.)
• Inventors: Michalscheck, Jimi
• Granted Patent: US 9,171,305 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/317
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/2443 Stored procedures
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/018 Certifying business or products
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 64/00 Locating users or terminals or network equipment for network management purposes, e.g. mobility management

Abstract

For providing confined space access procedures and confined space permits, a synchronization module stores a plurality of confined space permits and a plurality of confined space access procedures in a confined space database. Each confined space permit and each confined space access procedure corresponds to a confined space of a plurality of confined spaces and each confined space is indexed to a space reference code. The synchronization module synchronizes the plurality of confined space permits and the plurality of confined space access procedures to a mobile device. A retrieval module receives a first space reference code at the mobile device and retrieves a first confined space permit and a first confined space access procedure indexed to the first space reference code.

Claims

1. A method for providing procedures comprising:

storing, by use of a processor, a plurality of confined space permits and a plurality of confined space access procedures in a confined space database, wherein each confined space permit and each confined space access procedure corresponds to a confined space of a plurality of confined spaces and each confined space is indexed to a space reference code;

synchronizing the plurality of confined space permits and the plurality of confined space access procedures to a mobile device;

receiving a first space reference code at the mobile device; and

retrieving a first confined space permit and a first confined space access procedure indexed to the first space reference code.

2. The method of claim 1, the method further comprising:

updating one or more of the first confined space permit and the first confined space access procedure at the mobile device;

synchronizing the one or more the updated first confined space permit and the first confined space access procedure from the mobile device to the confined space database; and

submitting the one or more the updated first confined space permit and the first confined space access procedure to a regulatory authority.

3. The method of claim 1, the method further comprising:

storing a plurality of space statuses for each confined space of the plurality of confined spaces;

synchronizing the plurality of space statuses to the mobile device;

generating an update to a first space status at the mobile device; and

synchronizing the updated first space status from the mobile device to the confined space database.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the space status comprises a space actively entered status and a space vacant status.

5. The method of claim 1, the method further comprising:

recording if a user follows the first confined space access procedure to an audit report; and

synchronizing the audit report to an audit database with the audit report linked to the user in a user database and linked to the first confined space access procedure in the confined space database.

6. The method of claim 5, the method further comprising:

recording audit issues for the first confined space access procedure to the audit report;

recording an attestation from an auditor to the audit report; and

recording an audit result to the audit report.

7. The method of claim 5, the audit report comprising an auditor, the user, an audit time, the audit status, and the space reference code.

8. The method of claim 5, further comprising displaying the audit status for the plurality of processes and audit status for the user.

9. The method of claim 1, the method further comprising

storing a plurality of confined space tutorials in a tutorial database;

synchronizing the plurality of confined space tutorials to the mobile device; and

retrieving a first tutorial in response to the first space reference code.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the first space reference code is encoded as a Quick Response (QR) code.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the first space reference code is encoded as a barcode.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the first space reference code is encoded as an identification code of a Radio Frequency Identifier (RFID).

13. The method of claim 1, wherein confined space permits and confined space access procedures are grouped by site and the method further comprising presenting the confined space permits and confined space access procedures grouped to a first site in response to the first space reference code corresponding to the site.

15. The method of claim 1, further comprising displaying a confined space access procedure list of the plurality of confined space access procedures and a procedure status for each confined space access procedure selected from space reference code unassigned, audit incomplete, and audit complete.

14. The method of claim 14, further comprising maintaining a site list of space reference codes for a specified site and synchronizing only confined space access procedures and confined space permits with space reference codes that match at least one space reference code of the site list.

16. A program product comprising a computer readable storage medium that stores program code executable by a processor to perform:

storing a plurality of confined space permits and a plurality of confined space access procedures in a confined space database, wherein each confined space permit and each confined space access procedure corresponds to a confined space of a plurality of confined spaces and each confined space is indexed to a space reference code;

synchronizing the plurality of confined space permits and the plurality of confined space access procedures to a mobile device;

receiving a first space reference code at the mobile device; and

retrieving a first confined space permit and a first confined space access procedure indexed to the first space reference code.

17. The program product of claim 16, the method further comprising:

updating one or more of the first confined space permit and the first confined space access procedure at the mobile device;

synchronizing the one or more the updated first confined space permit and the first confined space access procedure from the mobile device to the confined space database; and

submitting the one or more the updated first confined space permit and the first confined space access procedure to a regulatory authority.

18. The program product of claim 16, the method further comprising:

storing a plurality of space statuses for each specified confined space of the plurality of confined spaces;

synchronizing the plurality of space statuses to the mobile device;

generating an update to a first space status at the mobile device; and

synchronizing the updated first space status from the mobile device to the confined space database.

19. The program product of claim 16, further comprising:

recording if a user follows the first confined space access procedure to an audit report; and

synchronizing the audit report to an audit database with the audit report linked to the user in a user database and linked to the first confined space access procedure in the confined space database

20. An apparatus comprising:

a processor;

a computer readable storage medium storing program code executable by the processor, the program code comprising;

a synchronization module that stores a plurality of confined space permits and a plurality of confined space access procedures in a confined space database, wherein each confined space permit and each confined space access procedure corresponds to a confined space of a plurality of confined spaces and each confined space is indexed to a space reference code and synchronizes the plurality of confined space permits and the plurality of confined space access procedures to a mobile device;

a retrieval module that receives a first space reference code at the mobile device and retrieves a first confined space permit and a first confined space access procedure indexed to the first space reference code.