Providing confined space permits and confined space access procedures

• US 9,171,305 B2
• Filed: 05/06/2014
• Issued: 10/27/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 10/16/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Rockwell Automation Technologies Incorporated (Rockwell Automation, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Rockwell Automation Technologies Incorporated (Rockwell Automation, Inc.)
• Inventors: Michalscheck, Jimi
• Primary Examiner(s): Ly, Anh
• Application Number:
  US14/271,257
• Publication Number:
  US 20140244527A1
• Time in Patent Office: 539 Days
• Field of Search: 707/740, 707/796, 707/610, 707/E17.001, 707/E17.064, 707/E17.046, 705/317, 705/14.26, 705/14.38, 705/11, 705/30, 705/40, 705/29, 705/14.58, 705/14.67, 705/14.66, 705/406, 455/445, 455/462.08, 455/465.1, 455/406, 455/410, 709/224, 702/119, 702/120, 702/121, 702/188, 702/189, 435/29, 435/375, 435/287, 435/487, 726/25, 726/4
• US Class Current: 1/1
• 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, a corresponding confined space permit is required to enter each confined space, and each confined space is indexed to a space reference code that uniquely identifies the confined space;

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, wherein the first space reference code is affixed to a first confined space;

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

synchronizing an audit report recording if a user follows the first confined space access procedure from the mobile device to an audit database, wherein the audit report is linked to the first confined space access procedure in a confined space database and to user data for the user in a user database; and

automatically displaying the audit report linked to the first confined space in response to displaying a procedure status for the first confined space access procedure of the plurality of confined space access procedures and displaying an audit report audit status for the user.

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 each space status comprises a space actively entered status and a space vacant status.

5. The method of claim 1, 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.

6. The method of claim 1, the audit report comprising an auditor, the user, an audit time, an audit status, and the space reference code.

7. 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.

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

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

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

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the confined space permits and the 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 first site.

12. The method of claim 1, 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.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the procedure status for each confined space access procedure is selected from space reference code unassigned, audit incomplete, and audit complete.

14. A program product comprising a non-transitory 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, a corresponding confined space permit is required to enter each confined space, and each confined space is indexed to a space reference code that uniquely identifies the confined space;

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, wherein the first space reference code is affixed to a first confined space;

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

synchronizing an audit report recording if a user follows the first confined space access procedure from the mobile device to an audit database, wherein the audit report is linked to the first confined space access procedure in a confined space database and to user data for the user in a user database; and

automatically displaying the audit report linked to the first confined space in response to displaying a procedure status for the first confined space access procedure of the plurality of confined space access procedures and displaying an audit report audit status for the user.

15. The program product of claim 14, 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.

16. The program product of claim 14, 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.

17. An apparatus comprising:

a processor;

a non-transitory 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, a corresponding confined space permit is required to enter each confined space, and each confined space is indexed to a space reference code that uniquely identifies the confined space 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, wherein the first space reference code is affixed to a first confined space and retrieves a first confined space permit and a first confined space access procedure indexed to the first space reference code;

the synchronization module synchronizing an audit report recording if a user follows the first confined space access procedure from the mobile device to an audit database, wherein the audit report is linked to the first confined space access procedure in a confined space database and to user data for the user in a user database; and

the retrieval module automatically displaying the audit report linked to the first confined space in response to displaying a procedure status for the first confined space access procedure of the plurality of confined space access procedures and displaying an audit report audit status for the user.