Intelligent personal protective equipment

• US 10,824,132 B2
• Filed: 12/07/2017
• Issued: 11/03/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 12/07/2017
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Government of Saudi Arabia)
• Original Assignee: Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Government of Saudi Arabia)
• Inventors: Horseman, Samantha J., Al-Abdrabbuh, Daniel (Mohammed), Alem, Yasser F.
• Primary Examiner(s): Wang, Zhipeng
• Application Number:
  US15/834,779
• Publication Number:
  US 20190179286A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,062 Days
• CPC Class Codes: A41D 19/01594 with accessories, e.g. tools, receptacles
• CPC Class Codes: A41F 9/002 Free belts
• CPC Class Codes: A42B 3/046 Means for detecting hazards or accidents
• CPC Class Codes: A43B 3/02 Boots covering the lower leg
• CPC Class Codes: A43B 3/34 with electrical or electronic arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2503/20 Workers
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/369 Electroencephalography [EEG] devices for psychotechnics A61B5/16
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 9/029 Additional functions or features, e.g. protection for other parts of the face such as ears, nose or mouth; Screen wipers or cleaning devices
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 19/406 characterised by monitoring or safety G05B19/19 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/31439 Alarms can be warning, alert or fault
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/50193 Safety in general
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/163 Wearable computers, e.g. on a belt
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/265 Personal security, identity or safety
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 9/00 Arrangements in telecontrol or telemetry systems for selectively calling a substation from a main station, in which substation desired apparatus is selected for applying a control signal thereto or for obtaining measured values therefrom

Abstract

Provided are systems and methods for integrated control and safety systems (ICSSs) that employ intelligent personal protective equipment (PPE). In some embodiments, an industrial plant system includes an industrial safety system (ISS) for monitoring a safety status of an industrial plant and one or more intelligent PPE systems worn by personnel located in the industrial plant. Each of the intelligent PPE systems includes one or more intelligent PPE devices for sensing personal and environmental characteristics of a person wearing the intelligent PPE system, and transmits safety data corresponding to the personal and environmental characteristics sensed. The ISS collects the safety data, determines (based on the safety data) whether a safety incident has occurred and, in response to determining that a safety incident has occurred, executes a response to the safety incident.

Claims

1. An industrial plant system, comprising:

an industrial safety system (ISS) configured to monitor a safety status of an industrial plant; and

one or more intelligent personal protective equipment (PPE) systems configured to be worn by personnel located in the industrial plant, wherein each of the intelligent PPE systems comprises one or more intelligent PPE devices configured to sense personal and environmental characteristics of a person wearing the intelligent PPE system, and wherein each of the intelligent PPE systems is configured to transmit, to the industrial safety system, safety data corresponding to the personal and environmental characteristics of the person wearing the intelligent PPE system, sensed by the one or more intelligent PPE devices of the intelligent PPE system, and

wherein the ISS is configured to;

collect, from the one or more intelligent PPE systems, the safety data;

determine, based on the safety data collected, whether a critical safety incident or a moderate safety incident has occurred, wherein determining that a critical safety incident has occurred comprises determining that a monitored condition of a person exceeds a critical threshold level for at least a given duration of time;

in response to determining that a moderate safety incident has occurred, send an alert to entities of the industrial plant system; and

in response to determining that a critical safety incident has occurred, suspend operations of the industrial plant and send an alert to entities of the industrial plant system, wherein suspending operations of the industrial plant comprises;

determining, based on the safety data collected, a portion of the industrial plant in which the person is located; and

suspending operations of the portion of the industrial plant determined.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more intelligent PPE devices comprise one or more of the following:

an intelligent headwear PPE device, an intelligent hand wear PPE device, an intelligent footwear PPE device, an intelligent eyewear PPE device, and an intelligent clothing device.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the intelligent headwear PPE device comprises an intelligent safety helmet.

4. The system of claim 2, wherein the intelligent hand wear PPE device comprises intelligent safety gloves.

5. The system of claim 2, wherein the intelligent footwear PPE device comprises intelligent safety boots.

6. The system of claim 2, wherein the intelligent eyewear PPE device comprises intelligent safety glasses.

7. The system of claim 2, wherein the intelligent clothing PPE device comprises an intelligent safety belt.

8. The system of claim 1, further comprising a smart device coupled to a plant device, wherein the smart device is configured to transmit, to an intelligent PPE system worn by a person located in the industrial plant, environmental data indicative of a characteristic of the plant device, wherein the intelligent PPE system is configured to communicate the environmental data indicative of the characteristic of the plant device to the ISS, and wherein the safety data collected comprises the environmental data indicative of the characteristic of the plant device.

18. The system of claim 1, wherein the ISS is further configured to:

determine, based on the safety data collected, whether a personal safety incident for a person has occurred at least a threshold number of times, and

in response to determining that the personal safety incident has occurred at least a threshold number of times, send an alert to the person indicating that the personal safety incident occurred.

9. A method of operating an industrial plant, comprising:

sensing, by one or more intelligent personal protective equipment (PPE) systems worn by personnel located in an industrial plant, personal and environmental characteristics of the personnel, wherein each of the one or more intelligent PPE systems are worn by a person located in the industrial plant, wherein each of the intelligent PPE systems comprises one or more intelligent PPE devices sensing personal and environmental characteristics of the person wearing the intelligent PPE system, and wherein the personal and environmental characteristics of the personnel comprise the personal and environmental characteristics sensed by the one or more intelligent PPE devices of the one or more intelligent PPE systems;

transmitting, by the one or more PPE systems, safety data corresponding to the personal and environmental characteristics of the personnel; and

monitoring, by an industrial safety system (ISS), a safety status of the industrial plant, the monitoring comprising the ISS performing the following operations;

collecting, from the one or more intelligent PPE systems, the safety data;

determining, based on the safety data collected, that a moderate safety incident has occurred, wherein determining that a critical safety incident has occurred comprises determining that a monitored condition of a person exceeds a critical threshold level for at least a given duration of time; and

in response to determining that the moderate safety incident has occurred, sending an alert to entities of the industrial plant system

determining, based on the safety data collected, that a critical safety incident has occurred; and

in response to determining that the critical safety incident has occurred, suspending operations of the industrial plant and sending an alert to entities of the industrial plant system, wherein suspending operations of the industrial plant comprises;

determining a portion of the industrial plant in which the person is located; and

suspending operations of the portion of the industrial plant determined.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the one or more intelligent PPE devices comprise one or more of the following:

an intelligent headwear PPE device, an intelligent hand wear PPE device, an intelligent footwear PPE device, an intelligent eyewear PPE device, and an intelligent clothing device.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the intelligent headwear PPE device comprises an intelligent safety helmet.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein the intelligent hand wear PPE device comprises intelligent safety gloves.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein the intelligent footwear PPE device comprises intelligent safety boots.

14. The method of claim 10, wherein the intelligent eyewear PPE device comprises intelligent safety glasses.

15. The method of claim 10, wherein the intelligent clothing PPE device comprises an intelligent safety belt.

16. The method of claim 9, further comprising an intelligent PPE system worn by a person located in the industrial plant receiving, from a smart device coupled to a plant device, environmental data indicative of a characteristic of the plant device, and the intelligent PPE system communicating the environmental data indicative of the characteristic of the plant device to the ISS, wherein the safety data collected comprises the environmental data indicative of the characteristic of the plant device.

19. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

determining, by the ISS based on the safety data collected, whether a personal safety incident for a person has occurred at least a threshold number of times, and

in response to the ISS determining that the personal safety incident has occurred at least a threshold number of times, sending, by the ISS, an alert to the person indicating that the personal safety incident occurred.

17. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising program instructions stored thereon that are executable by a processor to cause the following operations for operating an industrial plant:

sensing, by one or more intelligent personal protective equipment (PPE) systems worn by personnel located in an industrial plant, personal and environmental characteristics of the personnel, wherein each of the one or more intelligent PPE systems are worn by a person located in the industrial plant, wherein each of the intelligent PPE systems comprises one or more intelligent PPE devices sensing personal and environmental characteristics of the person wearing the intelligent PPE system, and wherein the personal and environmental characteristics of the personnel comprise the personal and environmental characteristics sensed by the one or more intelligent PPE devices of the one or more intelligent PPE systems;

transmitting, by the one or more PPE systems, safety data corresponding to the personal and environmental characteristics of the personnel; and

monitoring, by an industrial safety system (ISS), a safety status of the industrial plant, the monitoring comprising the ISS performing the following operations;

collecting, from the one or more intelligent PPE systems, the safety data;

determining, based on the safety data collected, whether a critical safety incident or a moderate safety incident has occurred, wherein determining that a critical safety incident has occurred comprises determining that a monitored condition of a person exceeds a critical threshold level for at least a given duration of time; and

in response to determining that a moderate safety incident has occurred, sending an alert to entities of the industrial plant system; and

in response to determining that a critical safety incident has occurred, suspending operations of the industrial plant and sending an alert to entities of the industrial plant system, wherein suspending operations of the industrial plant comprises;

determining a portion of the industrial plant in which the person is located; and

suspending operations of the portion of the industrial plant determined.

20. The medium of claim 17, the monitoring further comprising:

determining, by the ISS based on the safety data collected, whether a personal safety incident for a person has occurred at least a threshold number of times, and

in response to the ISS determining that the personal safety incident has occurred at least a threshold number of times, sending, by the ISS, an alert to the person indicating that the personal safety incident occurred.