Personal protective equipment and safety management system for comparative safety event assessment

Abstract

In one example, a system includes one or more personal protective equipment (PPE) devices each configured to be worn by a worker, the PPE devices each including one or more sensors that generate activity data indicative of activities of workers operating within one or more work environments. The system also includes a computing device, the computing device configured to: identify, based at least on the activity data, a plurality of clusters of one or more entities, wherein each entity of the entities is associated with one or more of the workers; and output an indication of a difference between performance by a target entity with respect to safety events and performance by the cluster that includes the target entity with respect to safety events.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A system comprising:
 one or more personal protective equipment (PPE) devices each configured to be worn by a worker, the PPE devices each including one or more sensors that provide (i) activity data indicative of activities of workers operating within one or more work environments and (ii) work environment data;   a computing device, the computing device configured to:
 identify, based at least on the activity data and the work environment data, a plurality of clusters of one or more entities, wherein each entity of the one or more entities is associated with one or more of the workers, and wherein the computing device is configured to identify the plurality of clusters of the one or more entities at least by being configured to:
 identify, based at least on the activity data and the work environment data, a first cluster that includes at least a target entity; and 
 identify, based at least on the activity data and the work environment data, a second cluster that is different from the first cluster; and 
 
 responsive to determining a difference between performance by the target entity with respect to safety events and performance by the first cluster with respect to the safety events, output, via wireless communication, an alert indicative of the determined difference. 
   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the activity data comprises one or more of PPE usage data and physiological data for the workers. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the computing device is further configured to:
 receive entity data for each of the entities, the entity data indicative of at least one of characteristics of the workers and characteristics of work environments that correspond to the entities; and   identify, further based at least on the entity data, the plurality of clusters of one or more entities.   
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 3 , wherein the entity data comprises one or more of demographic data for the workers and safety events statistics of the work environments. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 3 , wherein the computing device is further configured to:
 generate, from the activity data and the entity data, respective d-dimensional vectors for the entities, wherein each of the d-dimensional vectors has a corresponding value for each dimension of the d dimensions that indicates a value in the dimension for the corresponding entity; and   process the d-dimensional vectors using a clustering algorithm to identify the plurality of clusters of one or more entities.   
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the activity data comprises one or more of time spent at activities by the workers, continuous time spent by workers per activity, duty cycles by workers, and activity patterns. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein each entity of the entities is a respective worker of the one or more workers. 
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein each entity of the entities is a work environment of the one or more work environments in which the one or more workers associated with the entity are operating. 
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 1 ,
 wherein the activity data is indicative of one or more safety metrics for the workers,   wherein the computing device is configured to compute, based on the plurality of clusters and the one or more entities, a safety metric for the target entity and a safety metric for the cluster that includes the target entity, and   wherein to output the alert, the computing device is configured to output the alert to indicate a difference between the safety metric for the target entity and the safety metric for the cluster that includes the target entity.   
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 1 ,
 wherein the activity data is indicative of one or more performance metrics for the workers,   wherein the computing device is configured to compute, based on the plurality of clusters and the one or more entities, a performance metric for the target entity and a performance metric for the cluster that includes the target entity, and   wherein to output the alert, the computing device is configured to output the alert to indicate a difference between the performance metric for the target entity and the performance metric for the cluster that includes the target entity.   
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 1 ,
 wherein the activity data is indicative of one or more performance metrics for the workers, and   wherein the computing device is further configured to determine whether a performance metric of the target entity satisfies a threshold for the performance metric,   wherein the computing device is further configured to, in response to determining that the performance metric does not satisfy the threshold for the performance metric:
 determine, based on at least on an activity model trained using historical activity data for workers, one or more activities likely to improve the performance metric of the target entity; and 
 output an indication of the one or more activities. 
   
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 1 ,
 wherein the safety events correspond to a type of activity performed by a respective worker of the one or more workers,   wherein the performance by the target entity with respect to safety events corresponds to a frequency with which one or more workers associated with the target entity perform of the type of activity, and   wherein performance by the cluster that includes the target entity with respect to safety events corresponds to a frequency with which one or more workers associated with the one or more entities of the cluster that includes the target entity perform of the type of activity.   
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein at least one of the PPE devices is a communication hub that includes the computing device. 
     
     
         14 . A computing device comprising:
 at least one processor; and   a memory comprising instructions that, when executed, cause the at least one processor to:
 receive, from one or more personal protective equipment (PPE) devices within one or more work environments, entity data indicative of performance by one or more entities with respect to safety events; 
 receive, from the one or more PPE devices, work environment data; 
 generate, from the entity data, respective d-dimensional vectors for the one or more entities, wherein each of the d-dimensional vectors has a corresponding value for each dimension of the d dimensions that indicates a value in the dimension for the corresponding entity; 
 process the d-dimensional vectors using a clustering algorithm to identify a plurality of clusters of the one or more entities, wherein each entity of the one or more entities is associated with one or more workers, and wherein the instructions cause the at least one processor to identify the plurality of clusters of the one or more entities at least by causing the at least one processor to:
 identify, based at least on the entity data and the work environment data, a first cluster that includes at least a target entity; and 
 identify, based at least on the entity data and the work environment data, a second cluster that is different from the first cluster; and 
 
 responsive to determining a difference between performance by the target entity with respect to safety events and performance by the first cluster with respect to the safety events, output, via wireless communication, an alert indicative of the determined difference. 
   
     
     
         15 . The computing device of  claim 14 ,
 wherein each entity of the entities is a work environment in which the one or more workers associated with the respective entity are operating, and   wherein the entity data is indicative of characteristics of the work environments and safety events statistics of the work environments.   
     
     
         16 . The computing device of  claim 14 ,
 wherein each entity of the entities is a worker of the one or more workers associated with the respective entity, and   wherein the entity data is indicative of characteristics of workers and safety events statistics of the workers.   
     
     
         17 . The computing device of  claim 14 , wherein the performance by the first cluster that includes the target entity with respect to safety events is based on an average performance of one or more entities of the first cluster that includes the target entity. 
     
     
         18 . A computing device comprising:
 at least one processor; and   a memory comprising instructions that, when executed, cause the at least one processor to:
 identify, based at least on activity data and work environment, at least the activity data provided by one or more sensors included in one or more personal protective equipment (PPE) devices each configured to be worn by a worker, a plurality of clusters of one or more entities, wherein each entity of the one or more entities is associated with one or more workers within one or more work environments, wherein the activity data is indicative of activities of a plurality of workers operating within the one or more work environments, and wherein the instructions cause the at least one processor to identify the plurality of clusters of the one or more entities at least by causing the at least one processor to:
 identify, based at least on the activity data and the work environment data, a first cluster that includes at least a target entity; and 
 identify, based at least on the activity data and the work environment data, a second cluster that is different from the first cluster; and 
 
 responsive to determining a difference between performance by the target entity with respect to safety events and performance by the first cluster with respect to the safety events, output, via wireless communication, an alert indicative of the determined difference. 
   
     
     
         19 . The computing device of  claim 18 , wherein the activity data comprises one or more of PPE usage data and physiological data for the workers. 
     
     
         20 . The computing device of  claim 18 , wherein execution of the instructions further cause the at least one processor to:
 receive entity data for each of the entities, the entity data indicative of at least one of characteristics of the workers and characteristics of work environments that correspond to the entities; and   identify, further based at least on the entity data, the plurality of clusters of one or more entities.   
     
     
         21 . The computing device of  claim 20 , wherein the entity data comprises one or more of demographic data for the workers and safety events statistics of the work environments. 
     
     
         22 . The computing device of  claim 21 , wherein execution of the instructions further cause the at least one processor to:
 generate, from the activity data and the entity data, respective d-dimensional vectors for the entities, wherein each of the d-dimensional vectors has a corresponding value for each dimension of the d dimensions that indicates a value in the dimension for the corresponding entity; and   process the d-dimensional vectors using a clustering algorithm to identify the plurality of clusters of one or more entities.   
     
     
         23 . The computing device of  claim 18 , wherein the activity data comprises one or more of time spent at activities by the workers, continuous time spent by workers per activity, duty cycles by workers, and activity patterns. 
     
     
         24 . The computing device of  claim 18 , wherein each entity of the entities is a respective worker of the one or more workers. 
     
     
         25 . The computing device of  claim 18 , wherein each entity of the entities is a work environment of the one or more work environments in which the one or more workers associated with the entity are operating. 
     
     
         26 . The computing device of  claim 18 ,
 wherein the activity data is indicative of one or more safety metrics for the workers,   wherein execution of the instructions further cause the at least one processor to compute, based on the plurality of clusters and the one or more entities, a safety metric for the target entity and a safety metric for the cluster that includes the target entity, and   wherein execution of the instructions further cause the at least one processor to output the alert by at least causing the at least one processor to output the alert to indicate a difference between the safety metric for the target entity and the safety metric for the cluster that includes the target entity.   
     
     
         27 . The computing device of  claim 18 ,
 wherein the activity data is indicative of one or more performance metrics for the workers,   wherein execution of the instructions further cause the at least one processor to compute, based on the plurality of clusters and the one or more entities, a performance metric for the target entity and a performance metric for the cluster that includes the target entity, and   wherein execution of the instructions further cause the at least one processor to output the alert by at least causing the at least one processor to output the alert to indicate a difference between the performance metric for the target entity and the performance metric for the cluster that includes the target entity.   
     
     
         28 . The computing device of  claim 18 ,
 wherein the activity data is indicative of one or more performance metrics for the workers, and   wherein execution of the instructions further cause the at least one processor to determine whether a performance metric of the target entity satisfies a threshold for the performance metric,   wherein execution of the instructions further cause the at least one processor to, in response to determining that the performance metric does not satisfy the threshold for the performance metric:   determine, based on at least on an activity model trained using historical activity data for workers, one or more activities likely to improve the performance metric of the target entity; and   output an indication of the one or more activities.   
     
     
         29 . The computing device of  claim 18 ,
 wherein the safety events correspond to a type of activity performed by a respective worker,   wherein the performance by the target entity with respect to safety events corresponds to a frequency with which one or more workers associated with the target entity perform of the type of activity, and   wherein performance by the cluster that includes the target entity with respect to safety events corresponds to a frequency with which one or more workers associated with the one or more entities of the cluster that includes the target entity perform of the type of activity.   
     
     
         30 . The computing device of  claim 18 , wherein at least one of the PPE devices is a communication hub that includes the computing device.