HELMET OR GLASSES

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a management system and in particular to a management system for facilitating for example, safety, security production and Interaction in the workplace.

BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION

The applicant has identified th following problems relating to current management systems as applied, for example, in mining, construction, security, policing oil and gas and related industries, namely: ~

Workplace Safety ~ Adherence to safety rules and regulations are imperative to ensure a productive, safe and health work environment. Safety rules are often ignored or ¾en to support delivery and execution of tasks: at _. the risk of causing accidents, damage to property, equipment and injury to people:

Productivity - Incorrect ^' decisions, unsafe work environments, outdated standards arid regulations and intentional avoidanc of standard operating procedures (SOP's) may lead to productio Inefficiencies and/or losses, especially when Immediate, quick and accurate decisions need to be made;

Coaching - Work experience and "time-in-t e-job" is directly related to safe performance- d decislon-makin g ;

Mentoring in technical and other areas;

Behavioural training in situations where friction or conflict occurs within teams:

Compliance, which may he influenced by inexperience and a person's value system;

Culture vs Work Ethics - Culture issues cannot always be measured by management seeing that they cannot track actual application of the values - Work ethics are applied differently and may be reflected in the productivity index of different countries; and team functionality.; Employee Wellness and Health ~ Employee wellness and individual health may prove challenging In work environments where issues such as temperature, humidity and airflow may not always be ideal and may inhibit people's performance, ability to concentrate and perform task effectively;

Employee Engagement - A caring and consistent work environment is a great challenge for most organisations and there Is thus a need for a management system that will provide real-time information and Intelligence to optimise employee engagement-, interaction and cormiun!caiion in the workplace;

Lost-Time injury Rate (UTR) - The LITR needs to be understood better and managed more effectively.

Recording, classifying, Investigating and understanding accident-, event- and Incident-related Information, both voice and audio, location, position, temperature, lighting conditions as well as other data relevant thereto.

SU MARY OF THE INVENTION

According to the invention is provided a management system, which includes;- visual Image capturing means which Is adapted to he mounted on a user; transmitting means- for transmitting visual images captured by the visual image capturing means to a control station communication means for allowing two-way audio communication between the user and the control station; and energising means for energising the visual image capturing, transmitting: and communication means.

The visual image capturing means may include any suitable camera and/or video which- is adapted to be mounted on any of a safety helmet, hardhaf , beret/pet, and/or apparel of a user. The communication means may include any one or more of conventional •radio, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, VoIP, TV White space and/or cellular communication means.

The energising means may be in the form of any suitable conventional battery. The battery may be rechargeable. The battery is preferably a solar powered ^' rechargeable battery. The battery may be configured and sized so as to be mounted on a safety hat, hardhat and/or apparel of a user.

The management system may further include location-identifying means for Identifying the position of the user. The location Identifying means may include a GPS and/or any suitable cellular or other location-identifying device.

The management system includes a central processing unit (CPU) and a data storage means for storing received data received from any of the components of the system.

T e management system may Include a user Identification means for identifying a particular user to allow him to access and us the management system. The user identification means preferably I the form of any suitabl conventional fingerprint recognition device.

The management system may include illumination means, typically in the form of LED (Light Emitting Diode) lights, for illuminating an area around the user, typically in th direction of a user's field of vision. The lights are preferably mounted : on the safet helmet or hardhat, for example, generally used by miners.

The management system may further include an alarm which is capable of sending an alarm and/or distress signal to the control station, as well as co-workers In the immediate area where the user is working.

The management system may also Include a control station, which is able to transmit, receive and monitor visual and audio signals from the visual Image and communicatio means in real-time. The control station may take the form of any suitabie electronic device. The control station may be in. the form of a computer, cellular phone and or a tablet. The management system may also Include a monitoring means for monitoring any one or more of. a user's bod temperature, heart rate, facial expression, voice expression, ambient temperature, ambient humidity, rate of movement of the user, angle and orientation of a user relative a ground surface, as well as the presence of toxic and or explosive gas in the working environment of the user.

DESCRIPTION OF. AM E^BODWEH THE tfWEMTIOfcl

A management system for facilitating safety in a workplace in accordance with the invention Is now being described by way of a non-limiting example wit reference to the accompanying schematic wherein reference 10 depicts a part of a management syste in accordance with the invention.

Turning now to Figure 1, the management system 10 includes a visual image Capturing means in the form of a video camera 2 which. Is mounted on a safety hat 14 of a user 18, a transmitting means (not shown) for transmitting video images captured by the camera 12 to a. control station (not shown) and a communication means in the form of a conventional audio communication device 18 having a microphone 20 and earpiece 2 for allowing audio communication ^' . etween the user 18 and the control station in operation as well as communication and alerts with other users and/or team members. The management system also includes a energising means in the form of a solar powered rechargeable battery 24 for energising the electronic components of the safety hat 14.

The visual Image capturing means ma include any suitable camera and/or video which Is adapted it to be mounted on any of a safety helmet, hardhat, glasses and/or apparel of a user.

The management system 10 further includes location-identifying, means for Identifying the position of the user 16. The location Identifying means Includes a location sensor 28 mounted on the safety hat 1.4 for interfacing with a GPS and/or any suitable cellular location identifying arrangement, The management system 10 includes a centra! processing unit (CPU) 28 and a data storage means (not shown) for storing data from received from any of the components of the system 10.

The management system 10 inqiud.es a user identification means in the form of an suitable conventional fingerprint recognitio device 30 for identifying a particular user to allow him to access and use the management system 10.

Illumination means in the form of LED (Light Emitting Diode) lights 32 for illuminating an area in the user's 18 field of vision are mounted on the safety hat 14, An alarm 34 which is capable of sending an alarm and/or distress signal to the control station, is also mounted on the safety ha 14.

Gyroscopic sensor 2? monitor a user's rate and orientation o movement relative a working surface.

Gaseous sensor monitor 29 the presence of toxic and or explosive, gases in the working environment.

Further monitors are typically included for monitoring any one or more of a user's body temperature 31 , heart rate -38 and workplace humidity 40 _: mounted on the safety hat 14.

|n operation, the system 10 allows Interactive, real-time audio-visual communication b tween a user 16 and a control station/room. Data (video/photo, voice, position, location and rate/angle of movement y means of a gyroscope) will be recorded and made available in real-time via proprietary software (iOS, Android and Web-browser), Recording will be mad on a local HDD (Hard Disk Drive), native to the safety hat 14 and via Wi-Fi or Similar to a central ^" HDD (Hard Disk Drive) where if can be accessed easily via secure login, A user 18 will be uniquely identified by means of a fingerprint scan, pin code on the on-board LED screen and by means of facial recognition. The microphone 20 and earpiece 22 will enable two- way communications between stations, multiple users 16 and the control station and recording of voice data. The unique features of the safety helmet or device decided upo is determined by the nature of the work to be performed i.e. mining would require a hardhat or safety hat, a security worker would use a beret or cap, laboratory workers would use safety glasses and a teller or client oriented worker may use a lapel instrument

The system 10 ca Include any one or any combination of the following components: -

Video Camera with facial recognition for login and identity verification; Fingerprint touch sensor to verify Identity; Pin code via touch screen; Earphone; Microphone; Ability to "lock out" in sensitive areas like bathrooms - systems driven and location based; Rechargeable Battery; Integrated Motherboard; Charging socket; WI-FI and Bluetooth connection ability; GPS and location based data capturing; Data Transfer ability - pushing and pulling into the required organisational ERR system; Simple double button warning/attention buttons (red and amber) to Indicate dangerous situations; Single word voice command; Event or time marking ability on the data; Supportive positioning system; Gyroscope to record; and measure angular momentum and onentation (MEMS gyroscopes); Dat storage ability of at least ? days Toili g and body temperature, humidity and heart rate monitoring .

The images and audio will then be recorded up to a period of 10 to 12 hours before the equipment needs to be recharged - Battery replacement is a simple one- click operation - Same for headphone, camera and microphone. The purpose is to ensure real time decisions and coaching - ^' Use it or lose if . Data will be deleted after 7 days. Backups can be automated via the software. Wi-Fi enablement will ensure that data will be saved to a central server where after data will be used directly or Indirectly. The system ma be advanced to the point that single word voice demands may activate certain actions or communication channels. "Live data" will be captured via Wi-Fi .and is accessible at any point in time within the 7 days window. A function of direct communication will be enabled for purposes of coaching and emergencies at work.

Performance data ma be extracted as evidence of cumulative data supporting week, monthly and annual goals and can be saved and or transferred into the relevant system.

Safety data that supports trend and trend analyses as well as risks identified and reported will be saved to the system and saved as evidence with time and location features. Pre- Identified evidence will be transferred into a system and saved.

In the work environment, the applicant believes that a management system in accordance with the invention may enable the execution of improved knowledge and control with reference to "best practice" behaviour on-the-job, it may also provide template for acceptable or compliant work behaviour, work standards, work processes, and work et ic's.

An important principle/aim besides the invention faci itating safety and optimal work behaviour, is that it may enhance and enable employee engagement. Engagement is derived from the principles ^' of dignity; fairness and certainty experienced by the individual and expected by both management and a labour union.

The applicant believes that the management system in accordance wit the invention is advantageous In that it ma allow; -

Support of the worker and compan to ensure that health and the weilbeing of the employee take precedence via the health monitors that indicate for example; body temperatu e, heart rate and humidity;

Technology specialists to provide real time advice and support and/or better understand the restrictions to facilitate safer and more productive work environments;

"Live" coaching may .-augment job performance especially where "over- promotion" Is prevalent;

Mentoring in technical and other areas- Technical training from a remote position with a qualified and experienced trainer experiencing a "first-hand" view of the situation;

Users to be tracked and checked on task completion by means of location- based tracking to permit their movements in the work environment to be measured and confirmed; Acceleration of the transformation process because racial interaction and discrimination can be monitored and the appropriat action taken as soo as possible;

Improvemen in the functioning of a team as a result of each team member being tracked in real-time- Reduced response and/o reaction times and/or pro-active prevention of potential accidents;

Accelerated learning and exposure as feedback is provided within a short time period .of an incident and/or activity, especially in the case of a failed activity;

Remote training, facilitation and support which Is available from any suitable remote location, suc as for example the control station/room;

Information and evidence on accidents, Incidents and events can be recorded in real time and used as evidence to provide information for learning;

Pro-active management of environmental factors, for example humidity in the workplace or body temperature; and

Maintenance, safet and other response times to he managed more effectively.

it is to b appreciated that a. management system In accordance with the invention is not limited to the precise construction details ss hereinbefore described and/or with reference to the accompanying drawing and which nay be varied as desired- Fo example, software of the management system may allo baseline measurements to be taken and monitored in the following areas :-

1 . L!TR a, Lost-time injury rate to be defined

2. Turning-Point Analysis (TPA) a. Components of TPA i. Health s 1. Physical

2. Psychological \l Conditions of work

1. Temperature

2. Airflow

3. Humidity iii ^' . Maintenance

1. Response Time

2. "Time to repair"

3. Supply Chain Management iv. Safety

1 UTR a. Lost-time injury rate to be defined b. a "increase" clue to transparency and honesty is now brought into the system c. Surd's triangle can be "phaiienged" (Iceberg portion of the soiution. v. Productivity

1. Tonnage

2. Quality

3. Rate of production vi Engagement i . More transparent communication a. Bonus system b. ncentive system Shortcuts will be

Problem solving will be enhanced L Reporting and Sanctioning _: II Volume increase in reporting of incidenis

1. (Passive and Active Reporting)

2. Passive videos simply stored and accessible when required

3. Active is where "old" retired experienced individuals observe and report on a daily basis; ill Coaching and training too!

Accomplished Interaction- (Definition)

1. Accurate information ii. Authorised and Accessible Information