GB2324397A

GB2324397A - Hand washing reminder alarm

Info

Publication number: GB2324397A
Application number: GB9707661A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Michael Richard Goodier; Ivan James Moore
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1997-04-16
Filing date: 1997-04-16
Publication date: 1998-10-21
Also published as: GB9707661D0

Abstract

There are restricted working areas, eg food preparation areas, where the personnel entering the area must wash their hands before entering. An apparatus to ensure compliance with this requirement comprises - an electronically accessible personal identification badge to be worn by each person requiring access to the restricted area, - a first sensor 14 for contactless reading of the badges carried by the personnel, the sensor being located in a doorway 12 leading to the restricted working area 26, - a hand wash station 18 at which personnel should wash their hands at each time of entry to the restricted area, - a second sensor 20 located at the hand wash station 18, and - an alarm 22, the apparatus being arranged so that the alarm will be triggered if a person enters the working area without washing their hands.

Description

CONTROLLING ENTRY TO A RESTRICTED WORKING AREA This invention relates to apparatus for controlling entry of personnel to a restricted working area, such that only personnel who have previously washed their hands are allowed access to that area.

A number of industrial processes require that personnel working in the processes observe scrupulous cleanliness.

This is particularly the case in the field of food preparation, where personal hygiene has to be carefully observed, and be seen to be observed.

Regulations lay down the requirements for such cleanliness, and a prime requirement is that of hand washing For example, regulations specify in certain cases that a particular hand wash routine must be followed consisting of rinsing of the hands, soaping and scrubbing of the hands, followed by a further rinse.

It can however be difficult to ensure that this routine is scrupulously and faultlessly carried out, particularly in a busy workplace where there are people moving in and out of the clean area throughout the day, for example for meal breaks or to visit the toilet.

The invention therefore seeks to provide a way in which the operator of a restricted working area can be sure that all the personnel within the area have properly observed hand washing regulations.

According to the invention, there is provided apparatus for monitoring personnel entering a restricted working area to ensure that all such personnel have washed their hands, the apparatus comprising an electronically accessible personal identifier to be worn by each person requiring access to the restricted area, a first set of non-contact reading equipment for contactless reading of the identifiers carried by the personnel, the first set being located in a doorway leading to the restricted working area, a hand wash station at which personnel should wash their hands at each time of entry to the restricted area, a second set of non-contact reading equipment located at the hand wash station, and an alarm, the apparatus being arranged so that the alarm will be triggered if a person enters the working area without washing their hands.

The electronically accessible personal identifier is preferably a remotely readable 'smartcard' which can form part ofa button or badge to be worn by each person. Such smart cards incorporate a microchip and the microchip can be mounted in a badge, with the badge also serving as the person's name badge. The contactless card technology required for remote reading of such smart cards is already known and used in other industries. The smartcard would be read when it is brought within a certain specified distance of the corresponding reading equipment.

For ease of description, the personal identifiers will be referred to in the rest of this specification as badges.

However this is not to be seen as limiting in any way the nature of the personal identifiers. It is just important that these identifiers can be easily carried on the person and can be electronically accessed by separate reading equipment, without requiring contact between the identifier and the reader.

The reader may simply read the badges and pass a corresponding signal to a remote processor, or the reader may additionally write to the badges, so that each badge contains its own updated record of which readers it has passed.

The reading equipment may for example function by allocating a first credit to a particular badge when the person carrying that badge exits the working area. A second credit can be added when that person re-enters the working area, and a third credit can be added when the person washes their hands correctly, within a specified time after passing through the doorway. If the hand washing is not completed within this specified time, then an alarm is triggered. The alarm may be an audible alarm or visible alarm or a combination of both.

The hand wash station will normally be within the working area, and the alarm will be triggered if hand washing has not been completed within, say, one minute of the person entering the area. Alternatively, the hand wash station may be in an ante-room through which each person has to pass before entering the working area itself, and there may be a third set of reading equipment in a doorway leading from the ante-room to the main working area, and this reading equipment may check that the badge has been updated with the requisite information.

The reading equipment at the hand wash station is preferably linked into the preparation of the station, such that water only starts to flow for hand-washing when the person places their hands beneath the water outlet to commence the hand wash cycle. The relevant credit is only allocated to the badge when the person's hands are in position to start the water flow, so that it is not possible for anybody to fool the reading equipment by merely standing close to the hand wash station without actually at least wetting their hands.

It is important that the personnel do not need to touch anything after washing their hands and before reaching their place of work.

The doorway to the restricted working area may be provided with a barrier which will only open when approached by somebody wearing a badge, and the reading equipment may operate to open the barrier as well as allocating a credit to somebody passing through. This will serve to stop anybody unauthorised from entering the area, or from anyone entering the area without their badge.

Details of all occasions when a badge has been read can be stored in a database and can be printed out as a record of all entries to and exits from the restricted working area, including evidence to show that hand washing has taken place on each entry, in order to satisfy monitoring authorities.

The invention will now be further described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a block diagram illustrating operation of the apparatus; and Figure 2 shows a typical layout in a factory.

Figure 1 shows an arrangement with a central electronic processor 10 which receives and processes signals when a badge passes a set of badge reading equipment.

A food processing room, which is to be protected by the apparatus of the invention, has an access door 12 provided with a badge reading sensor 14. When a person wearing a badge passes through the door, a signal is sent to the controller 10. The controller will know whether the person is entering or leaving the restricted area by looking at its stored database. If the last entry was an entry to the area, then the next entry must be an exit from the area.

The person leaving then goes to do something outside the area. Let us say he goes to the toilet at 16. On returning, he passes again through the door 12 and his badge is read by the sensor 14 which notes that this is an entry to the area. An entry to the area must be followed by washing of the hands, and a hand wash station 18 is located adjacent to the door 12. The hand wash station has a badge sensor 20, and this sensor will be arranged so that it only sends a signal to the processor 10 when a badge is in sufficiently close proximity and the person has triggered the hand wash unit operation by placing their hands under an electronic eye which starts the flow of water. The person can then, having washed their hands, re-enter the restricted area.

However, if the processor 10 receives exit and entry messages from the sensor 14 but does not receive a message from the sensor 20, then an alarm 22 will sound, to alert the person who has not washed his hands to the fact that he should do so, and also to alert the supervisor to this occurrence.

A printer 24 is shown connected to the processor 10, and this printer can be used to print out a journal of exits from and entries to the restricted area and the associated hand washing operations.

Figure 2 shows a ground plan of a restricted area 26 where, for example, food preparation will take place.

There is just one access door at 12, through which everybody must enter or leave the area 26. Just inside the door is the handwash station 18, and the arrows 28 represent a person leaving the area 26 to go to the toilet and the arrows 30 show the return, via the hand wash station 18.

If the processing area 26 has more than one entry/exit, then each entry/exit will be provided with badge reading equipment and a conveniently .accessible hand wash unit.

The badge reading equipment from the various doorways will be linked together to cater for the possibility that somebody might leave by one doorway and re-enter by a different doorway.

With the arrangement shown in Figure 2, the person entering will be allowed a pre-determined time period to wash their hands. If they do not do so, then the alarm will sound and the time will be short enough to ensure that the person cannot commence work before the alarm sounds indicating that the necessary hand washing has not been completed.

The apparatus described here, with the badges and the sensors and the processor 10 can be installed in a factory and linked into existing doorways and existing hand washing stations.

The apparatus described here can give a very high degree of confidence that all personnel have observed the correct hygiene procedures before commencing work, and can provide a historic record of all such procedures having taken place.

Claims

1. Apparatus for monitoring personnel entering a restricted working area to ensure that all such personnel have washed their hands, the apparatus comprising an electronically accessible personal identifier to be worn by each person requiring access to the restricted area, a first set of non-contact reading equipment for contactless reading of the identifiers carried by the personnel, the first set being located in a doorway leading to the restricted working area, a hand wash station at which personnel should wash their hands at each time of entry to the restricted area, a second set of noncontact reading equipment located at the hand wash station, and an alarm, the apparatus being arranged so that the alarm will be triggered if a person enters the working area without washing their hands.

2. Apparatus as claimed in Claim 1, wherein the electronically accessible personal identifier is a remotely readable 'smartcard' which can form part of a button or badge to be worn by each person.

3. Apparatus as claimed in Claim 2, wherein each smart card incorporates a microchip and the microchip is mounted in a badge, with the badge also serving as the person's name badge.

4. Apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the reader reads the badges and passes a corresponding signal to a remote processor.

5. Apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the reader writes to the badges, so that each badge contains its own updated record of which readers it has passed.

6. Apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the reading equipment functions by - allocating a first credit to a particular badge when the person carrying that badge exits the working area, - allocating a second credit when that person re-enters the working area, and - allocating a third credit when the person washes their hands correctly, within a specified time after passing through the doorway.

7. Apparatus as claimed in Claim 6, including means for triggering an alarm if the hand washing is not completed within this specified time.

8. Apparatus as claimed in Claim 7, wherein the alarm is an audible alarm.

9. Apparatus as claimed in Claim 7 or Claim 8, wherein the hand wash station is within the working area, and the alarm will be triggered if hand washing has not been completed within, say, one minute of the person entering the area.

10. Apparatus as claimed in Claim 7 or Claim 8, wherein the hand wash station is in an ante-room through which each person has to pass before entering the working area itself, and there is a third set of reading equipment in a doorway leading from the ante-room to the main working area, and this third set of reading equipment checks that the badge has been updated with the requisite information.

11. Apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the reading equipment at the hand wash station is linked into the preparation of the station, such that water only starts to flow for hand-washing when the person places their hands beneath the water outlet to commence the hand wash cycle.

12. Apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim, arranged so that the personnel do not need to touch anything after washing their hands and before reaching their place of work.

13. Apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the doorway to the restricted working area is provided with a barrier which will only open when approached by somebody wearing a badge, and the reading equipment operates to open the barrier as well as to allocate a credit to somebody passing through.

14. Apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim, including means for maintaining a database in which details of all occasions when a badge has been read can be stored, and from which these details can be printed out as a record of all entries to and exits from the restricted working area, including evidence to show that hand washing has taken place on each entry, in order to satisfy monitoring authorities.

15. Apparatus for monitoring personnel entering a restricted working area, substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.