Personal protective equipment system using optical articles for integrated monitoring, alerting, and predictive safety event avoidance

Abstract

In some examples, a system includes: at least one light capture device; an article of personal protective equipment (PPE) that includes a plurality of retroreflective elements embodied on a surface of the article of PPE in a spatially defined arrangement, each retroreflective element of the plurality of retroreflective elements having at least two different retroreflective properties; a computing device communicatively coupled to the at least one light capture device, wherein the computing device is configured to: receive, from the at least one light capture device, retroreflected light that indicates at least two different retroreflective properties of at least one retroreflective element of the plurality of retroreflective elements; determine, based at least in part on each of the at least two different retroreflective properties, a safety event; and perform at least one operation based at least in part on the safety event.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method comprising:
 receiving, from at least one light capture device, retroreflected light that indicates at least two different retroreflective properties of at least one retroreflective element of a plurality of retroreflective elements, wherein an article of personal protective equipment (PPE) includes the plurality of retroreflective elements embodied on a surface of the article of PPE in a spatially defined arrangement, each retroreflective element of the plurality of retroreflective elements having at least two different retroreflective properties;   determining, by a computing device and based at least in part on each of the at least two different retroreflective properties, a safety event; and   performing at least one operation based at least in part on the safety event.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 storing a set of associations between pre-defined properties and values, wherein each respective pre-defined property of the set of pre-defined properties corresponds to at least one respective value of the values; and   determining one or more of the values based on the at least two different retroreflective properties of the at least one retroreflective element.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more values are at least one of a binary value, decimal value, hexadecimal value, or alphanumeric value. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein determining, based at least in part on each of the at least two different retroreflective properties, the safety event, further comprises:
 determining that at least one of the at least two different retroreflective properties indicates a type of personal protective equipment;   determining that the type of the article of PPE is incorrect for at least one characteristic of the article of PPE; and   generating an indication based at least in part on the type of the article of PPE being incorrect for the at least one characteristic of the article of PPE.   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein that at least one characteristic is at least one of a fit test or an environment of a worker assigned to the article of PPE. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein determining, based at least in part on each of the at least two different retroreflective properties, the safety event, further comprises:
 determining that at least one of the at least two different retroreflective properties indicates a presence of a type of first object;   determining that a distance between the first object and a second object is less than a threshold distance; and   generating an indication that the distance is less than a threshold distance.   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein a type of the first object is a living being and the second object is a vehicle. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , further comprising sending a message, based at least in part on the indication, to the vehicle that causes a change in an operation of the vehicle. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 determining, based at least in part on at least one of the at least two different retroreflective properties of the at least one retroreflective element of the plurality of retroreflective elements, an orientation of a worker assigned to the article of PPE.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 determining, based at least in part on at least one of the at least two different retroreflective properties of the at least one retroreflective element of the plurality of retroreflective elements, whether a worker assigned to the article of PPE is in the presence of a particular hazard.   
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising
 determining, based at least in part on at least one of the at least two different retroreflective properties of the at least one retroreflective element of the plurality of retroreflective elements, whether a worker assigned to the article of PPE is located in a particular environment.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the safety event comprises at least one of:
 a worker-down event, wherein a worker has fallen;   a visor event, wherein a visor position of a respirator or welding mask does not shield a face of a worker wearing the article of PPE;   a respirator protection event, wherein a respirator is not worn over the nose of a worker wearing the article of PPE; or   
       a hearing protection event, wherein hearing protection is not positioned to attenuate sound for the worker wearing the article of PPE. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein performing at least one operation based at least in part on the safety event comprises:
 generating a notification;   sending a message; or   storing an indication of the safety event.   
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the at least two different retroreflective properties comprise at least two different polarization states. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the at least two different retroreflective properties comprise at least two different phase retardations. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the retroreflective property changes in response to a change in condition. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the change in condition is at least one of a change in thermal, moisture, mechanical deformation, or radiation. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of retroreflective elements are individually sized and separated from one another such that each individual retroreflective element is resolvable at desired distances from the optical article. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 1 ,
 wherein the spatially defined arrangement comprises a geometric arrangement in which each respective retroreflective element of the plurality of retroreflective elements are positioned within a distance from neighboring retroreflective elements of the plurality of retroreflective elements, and   wherein the plurality of retroreflective elements have a periodicity from one element to another within the spatially defined arrangement.   
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the periodicity is a regular periodicity.