WO2020077401A1

WO2020077401A1 - A system and method monitoring and assisting one or more worker operating on respective worksites

Info

Publication number: WO2020077401A1
Application number: PCT/AU2019/051122
Authority: WO
Inventors: Jonathan SARAK
Original assignee: Telora Pty Ltd
Priority date: 2018-10-16
Filing date: 2019-10-16
Publication date: 2020-04-23
Also published as: AU2019362970A1

Abstract

A system for monitoring and assisting one or more workers on respective work sites comprising: a scheduler for determining a shift for each worker; a client device associated with each worker, wherein the scheduler notifies each worker by way of a message displayed at the client device with details of the worker's shift and wherein at predetermined intervals during the shift the scheduler requests the status of each worker by status notification at each client device wherein each worker is required to actively respond to the status notification to prevent activation of an alarm.

Description

A SYSTEM AND METHOD MONITORING AND ASSISTING ONE OR MORE WORKER OPERATING ON RESPECTIVE WORKSITES

Technical Field

[001] The present invention generally relates to security systems and methods and in particular to a computer system, a computer-implemented method and a computer program product for assisting a company and one or more worker operating on respective worksites.

Background

[002] Security guards and other workers such as construction workers, plumbers etc. often work in places where they are the only one on duty or are working in a remote location. For example, on weekends and overnight it is often not cost effective to have a large team or multiple people patrol a factory or commercial building. Typically, only one guard is on duty or if there are multiple guards, they are located far from one another. In another case, multiple guards are working on a remote location. This presents a potential risk to the safety of the guard(s) if something happens to them, for example, they may suffer a health issue such as a stroke or heart attack that may cause their death if help does not arrive on time. Additionally, lone worker or even multiple workers may become incapacitated by a person or group of person with mala-fide intentions to rob/physically harm them, then worker(s) may not be able to call for assistance.

[003] Few attempts have been made to solve this problem. Some of them include having a control room that contacts guard every predetermined period (e.g. every hour of their shift) to make sure they are fine. If the control room cannot contact the worker then they dispatch an emergency response team to go and try to find them. This is expensive and leads to a wastage of resources.

[004] It is therefore desirable to have a system and method for monitoring workers and assisting one or more worker operating on respective worksites, that does not suffer from the above-mentioned deficiencies or at least provide a viable and effective alternative.

[005] Throughout this specification, unless the context requires otherwise, the words “comprise”,“comprises” and“comprising” will be understood to imply the inclusion of a stated step or element or group of steps or elements but not the exclusion of any other step or element or group of steps or elements. [006] Any one of the terms:“including” or“which includes” or“that includes” as used herein is also an open term that also means including at least the elements/features that follow the term, but not excluding others.

[007] Any discussion of the background art throughout the specification should in no way be considered as an admission that such background art is prior art nor that such background art is widely known or forms part of the common general knowledge in the field in Australia or worldwide.

Summary

[008] According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a computer- implemented method for monitoring and assisting one or more worker operating on respective worksites. The computer-implemented method comprises the steps of assigning a plurality of work shifts to the one or more worker on associated one or more client devices, sending a first message a first predetermined time to a client device associated with a worker of the one or more worker, for confirming availability of the worker for a work shift of the plurality of work shifts, receiving a reply from the client device, the reply being a yes or a no; receiving a start notification from the client device indicating that the worker has started the work shift, sending a push notification on the client device asking about the status of worker, after predetermined time intervals, receiving a reply indicating the worker is safe, notifying an assistance team to reach on the location of the worker extracted from the corresponding client device in case no reply is received, and receiving an emergency notification actuated by the worker indicating the worker being in trouble and notifying an assistance team to reach on the location of the worker extracted from the corresponding client device.

[009] It is an advantage of an embodiment of the present invention that the worker operating on respective worksites receive a message at predetermined time intervals such as, hourly or every 30 mins, to confirm his safety. When they are not able to do so, an assistance team is notified to reach on the location of that worker to help the worker as he may be in trouble. Additionally, if between the predetermined intervals, the worker faces a problem or a health issue, he may send an emergency notification and the assistance team may be sent at the earliest opportunity. The present invention ensures enhanced safety of the workers.

[010] The first predetermined time may be 1 hour. The first predetermine time may selected by the worker and/or the assistance team. [011] The computer-implemented method may further comprises the steps of sending a second message to the client device at a second predetermined time after the work shift is over, asking whether the worker is safely home, receiving a reply from the client device, the reply being a yes or a no and in case no reply is received notifying an assistance team to reach on the location of the worker extracted from the corresponding client device.

[012] The one or more worker may be selected from a group comprising security guard, construction workers, employees, drivers, technicians and installation professionals working alone and/or in remote area.

[013] The one or more client devices may be selected from a group comprising smartphones and tablets having atleast a camera, a microphone and a Global Positioning System (GPS).

[014] The computer-implemented method may further comprise the step of receiving and tracking the one or more locations of the one or more associated workers, thereby ensuring the presence of the one or more associated workers on respective worksites.

[015] The computer-implemented method may further comprise the step of remotely actuating a camera and a microphone of the client device when the emergency notification is received, in order to assess the situation of the worker asking for help.

[016] The emergency notification is sent by the worker by actuating an emergency button on the client device.

[017] The computer-implemented method may further comprise the steps of sending a plurality of tasks to the client device assigned to the worker; and updating the plurality of tasks to in case there are changes in work to be done, the worksite and/or timings of the work shift.

[018] According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a computer system for monitoring and assisting one or more worker operating on respective worksites. The computer system comprises a memory unit configured to store machine-readable instructions and a processor operably connected with the memory unit, the processor obtaining the machine -readable instructions from the memory unit, and being configured by the machine- readable instructions to assign a plurality of work shifts to the one or more worker on associated one or more client devices, send a first message at a predetermined time to a client device associated with a worker of the one or more worker, for confirming availability of the worker for the work shift of the plurality of work shifts, receive a reply from the client device, the reply being a yes or a no, receive a start notification from the client device indicating that the worker has started the work shift, send a push notification on the client device asking about the status of worker, after predetermined time intervals, receive a reply indicating the worker is safe, notify an assistance team is to reach on the location of the worker extracted from the corresponding client device, in case no reply is received, and receive an emergency notification actuated by the worker indicating the worker being in trouble and notify an assistance team to reach on the location of the worker extracted from the corresponding client device.

[019] The first predetermined time may be 1 hour. The first predetermine time may selected by the worker and/or the assistance team.

[020] The processor may be further configured to send a second message to the client device, at a second predetermined time after the work shift is over, asking whether the worker is safely home, receive a reply from the client device, the reply being a yes or a no, and in case no reply is received, notify an assistance team to reach on the location of the worker extracted from the corresponding client device.

[021] The one or more worker may be selected from a group comprising security guard, construction workers, employees, drivers, technicians and installation professionals working alone and/or in remote area.

[022] The one or more client devices may be selected from a group comprising smartphones and tablets having atleast a camera, a microphone and a Global Positioning System (GPS).

[023] The processor may be further configured to receive and track the one or more locations of the one or more associated workers, thereby ensuring the presence of the one or more associated workers on respective worksites.

[024] The processor may be further configured to remotely actuate a camera and a microphone of the client device when the emergency notification is received, in order to assess the situation of the worker asking for help.

[025] The emergency notification may be sent by the worker by actuating an emergency button on the client device.

[026] The processor may be further configured to send a plurality of tasks to the client device, assigned to the worker, and updating the plurality of tasks in case there are changes in work to be done, a location and/or a duration of the work shift. [027] According to third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a computer program product. The computer program product comprises computer executable instructions embodied in a non-transitory computer readable storage medium, the computer-executable instructions when executed by a computer, configure the computer to assign a plurality of work shifts to the one or more worker on associated one or more client devices, send a first message at a predetermined time to a client device associated with a worker of the one or more worker, for confirming availability of the worker for the work shift of the plurality of work shifts, receive a reply from the client device, the reply being a yes or a no, receive a start notification from the client device indicating that the worker has started the work shift, send a push notification on the client device asking about the status of worker, after predetermined time intervals, receive a reply indicating the worker is safe, notify an assistance team is to reach on the location of the worker extracted from the corresponding client device, in case no reply is received, receive an emergency notification actuated by the worker indicating the worker being in trouble and notify an assistance team to reach on the location of the worker extracted from the corresponding client device.

[028] According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for monitoring and assisting one or more worker operating on respective worksites. The method comprises the steps of assigning a plurality of work shifts to the one or more worker on associated one or more client devices, sending a first message a first predetermined time to a client device associated with a worker of the one or more worker, for confirming availability of the worker for a work shift of the plurality of work shifts, receiving a reply from the client device, the reply being a yes or a no; receiving a start notification from the client device indicating that the worker has started the work shift, sending a push notification on the client device asking about the status of worker, after predetermined time intervals, receiving a reply indicating the worker is safe, notifying an assistance team to reach on the location of the worker extracted from the corresponding client device in case no reply is received, and receiving an emergency notification actuated by the worker indicating the worker being in trouble and notifying an assistance team to reach on the location of the worker extracted from the corresponding client device.

[029] According to another aspect of the present invention, there is a system for monitoring and assisting one or more worker operating on respective worksites. The system comprises a shift scheduler to assign a plurality of work shifts to the one or more worker on associated one or more client devices and to send a first message at a predetermined time to a client device associated with a worker of the one or more worker, for confirming availability of the worker for the work shift of the plurality of work shifts, receive a reply from the client device, the reply being a yes or a no, receive a start notification from the client device indicating that the worker has started the work shift, send a push notification on the client device asking about the status of worker, after predetermined time intervals, receive a reply indicating the worker is safe, notify an assistance team is to reach on the location of the worker extracted from the corresponding client device, in case no reply is received, and receive an emergency notification actuated by the worker indicating the worker being in trouble and notify an assistance team to reach on the location of the worker extracted from the corresponding client device.

[030] According to another aspect of the invention there is provided a system for monitoring and assisting one or more workers on respective work sites comprising: a scheduler for determining a shift for each worker; a client device associated with each worker, wherein the scheduler notifies each worker by way of a message displayed at the client device with details of the worker's shift and wherein at predetermined intervals during the shift the scheduler requests the status of each worker by status notification at each client device wherein each worker is required to actively respond to the status notification to prevent activation of an alarm.

Brief Description of Drawings

[031] At least one example of the invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

[032] Figure 1 is an exemplary environment of computing devices to which the various embodiments described herein may be implemented;

[033] Figure 2 illustrates computer-implemented method for monitoring and assisting one or more associated workers operating on respective worksites, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

[034] Figure 3 illustrates an information flow diagram for receiving a negative reply/no reply and notifying an assistance team, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

[035] Figure 4 illustrates an information flow diagram for receiving an emergency notification and notifying an assistance team, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; [036] Figure 5 illustrates an information flow diagram for receiving the emergency notification and notifying the assistance team, in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention; and

[037] Figure 6 illustrates an implementation of the computer-implemented method of Figure 2, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

[038] It should be noted that the same numeral represents the same or similar elements throughout the drawings.

Description of Embodiments

[039] The present invention aims to achieve the obj ective of monitoring and assisting workers operating on the worksites alone or in a remote location. The workers may be construction workers, security guards, plumbers, technicians, installation professionals etc. In general, these workers operate at alone especially at night and/or in remote areas where the can easily be overpowered by a people with wrongful intentions or suffer from a health issue, with no one there to help them. So, for achieving the above-mentioned objective the present invention provides a solution that includes checking with the workers about their safety after fixed time intervals such as every 30 mins or 1 hour by sending a push notification on their smartphones. In some embodiments the interval time is set by the worker and/or an administrator of the system. The worker may reply simply by tap a physical button or a virtual on-screen button configured to send an affirmative message indicating they are safe. In case, a reply is not received, an assistance team may be notified to reach the location of the worker to provide necessary help.

[040] The location may be extracted from the Global Positioning System (GPS) present in the smartphones. Additionally, if between the fixed intervals the worker feels unsafe or unwell, then the worker may send an emergency notification using the physical or a virtual on-screen button configured to generate and send the emergency notification. The emergency notification indicates that the worker needs help and the assistance team is to be sent to provide help at the earliest. In one embodiment of the present invention, the computer system may actuate a camera and a microphone of the smartphone of the worker when a reply is not received or an emergency notification is received. This may help in understanding the situation of the worker better through audio and visual. Besides, it may provide a moral support to the worker as he would know that help is arriving for him. Other than that, this might scare away people with wrongful intentions as they’ll know that they are caught on camera and will be held by the Police sooner or later. Also, the present invention may the help the organisations that employ the workers, to keep track on the workers and their activities while on-duty.

[041] The present invention aims to achieve the above-mentioned objectives through a system and a method that have been discussed with the help of numerous illustrations below, including an exemplary environment of computing devices. However, a skilled addressee would appreciate that the present invention is not limited to the environment discussed below and may be equally applicable to many different environments without departing from the scope of the present invention.

[042] Figure 1 illustrates an exemplary environment 100 of computing devices to which the various embodiments described herein may be implemented. Figure 1 illustrates one or more client devices 106, l06i... l06n associated with one or more worker. The one or more worker are selected from a group comprising, but not limited to, security guard, construction workers, employees, drivers, technicians and installation professionals working alone and/or on a worksite located in a remote area. The illustrates the one or more client devices 106, 1061...106n may be selected from a group comprising smartphones, tablets etc. The one or more client devices 106, l06i..T06n are envisaged to include one or more input devices (such as a keyboard, a camera, microphone etc.) (not shown) and one or more output devices (such as a display screen, speaker etc.) (not shown).

[043] In case of a smartphone, the one or more input devices and the one or more output devices may be integrally provided. For example, in touch-input based camera-enabled smartphone no external devices need to be connected. Additionally, the one or more client devices 106, 106i...106h are envisaged to include Global Positioning System (GPS) configured provide a location of the smartphone and thereby the worker, when queried using appropriate protocols. The location may be in the form of, but not limited to, geographical coordinates. The one or more client devices 106, l06i..T06n are connected with a network 104. The network 104 may be one of, but not limited to, a Local Area Network (LAN) or a Wide Area Network (WAN). The network 104 may be implemented using a number of protocols, such as but not limited to, TCP/IP, 3GPP, 3GPP2, LTE, IEEE 802.x etc.

[044] Further connected to the network 104 is a computer system 102. The computer system 102 may be a portable computing device, a desktop computer or a server stack. The computer is envisaged to include computing capabilities such as a memory unit 1022 configured to store machine readable instructions. The machine readable instructions may be loaded into the memory unit 1022 from a non-transitory machine-readable medium such as, but not limited to, CD-ROMs, DVD-ROMs and Flash Drives. Alternately, the machine readable instructions may be loaded in a form of a computer software program into the memory unit 1022. The memory unit 1022 in that manner may be selected from a group comprising EPROM, EEPROM and Flash memory. Further, the computer system 102 includes a processor 1024 operably connected with the memory unit 1022. In various embodiments, the processor 1024 is one of, but not limited to, a general-purpose processor 1024, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) and a field -programmable gate array (FPGA).

[045] Further connected to the network 104 is a data repository 108. The data repository 108 may be a cloud-based storage or a local storage. In any manner, the data repository 108 is envisaged to be capable of providing the data to any of the computing devices connected with the network 104, when the data is queried appropriately using applicable security and other data transfer protocols. The data repository 108 is envisaged to store one or more profiles associated with a plurality of workers. The one or more profiles comprise, but not limited to, respective names, respective ages, respective locations of worksites, respective tasks assigned, respective work shift schedules and respective contact details. Various embodiments of the present invention may now be understood with the exemplary environment 100 as a reference.

[046] Figure 2 illustrates a computer-implemented method 200 for monitoring and assisting the one or more worker operating on the respective worksites. The one or more worker having the associated one or more client devices 106, l06i ... l06n are registered on the computer system 102. For registration they may need to provide details such as, but not limited to, respective names, respective ages, respective work experience, respective field of work, and respective contact details using the one or more client devices 106, 106i ... 106h. Using the details, the processor 1024 may generate the one or more of profiles corresponding to the respective one or more worker and store the same in the data repository 108. The computer- implemented method begins at step 210 when a plurality of work shifts are assigned to the one or more worker on the associated one or more client devices 106, 1061... 106h. For example: a new work shift may be assigned to each of the one or more worker every day or the work shift may be assigned for a whole week or month.

[047] For the purpose of explanation, one client device 106 of the one or more client devices 106, 106i ... 106h associated with one worker of the one or more worker is considered in the description below. At step 220, a first message is sent at a first predetermined time to a client device 106 associated with a worker, for confirming availability of the worker for a work shift of the plurality of work shifts assigned. The first message may be, for example,“are you coming for the today’s work shift?” or the like. The first predetermined time may be, but not limited to, 1 hour before the work shift starts. The processor 1024 may be preconfigured to automatically send the first message an hour before the work shift starts. In another embodiment, admin personnel may be assigned to send the first message to the worker.

[048] After that, at step 230, a reply is received from the client device 106 in response to the first message. The reply may be affirmative or negative such as, but not limited to, a YES or a NO. If the reply is‘NO’ then the computer-implemented method 200 may not proceed further for the day. But the computer-implemented method 200 restarts the next day when the next work shift of the plurality of work shifts is scheduled. When the reply is‘YES’, then the computer-implemented method 200 moves to the next step. At step 240, a start notification is received from the client device 106, indicating that the worker has started the work shift. For Example: The worker may manually press a virtual on-screen start button provided on the client device 106 configured to send a start notification.

[049] Further, at step 250, a push notification is sent to the client device 106 asking about the status of worker, after predetermined time intervals. The processor 1024 may send the push notification in the form of, but not limited to, a text message or pop up message such as, but not limited to,“are you fine?”,“are you alright?”,“all well?” or the like. The predetermined time intervals may be, but not limited to, a few minutes or a few hours. For example: the processor 1024 may send a push notification every 30 mins. Additionally, the push notification is configured to directly pop-up on the screen overlaying on all working applications on the client device 106, as soon as the client device 106 receives the push notification.

[050] At next step 260, a reply is received indicating that the worker is safe. In one embodiment, the reply may be, but not limited to, affirmative or negative. An‘affirmative’ reply may be a first pre-configured text message stating, for example,“Yes, I’m fine”,“All good”,“No problems” or the like. The first pre-configured text message may be actuated/sent by, a mere tap on the push notification or a virtual on-screen button provided on a touch screen- based client device 106 or a click of physical button provided on the smartphone that are configured to send the ‘affirmative’ reply. Such simple methods of sending the reply are configured so that the worker may not get disturbed or distracted by replying to the repetitive push notifications. Similarly, for the‘negative’ reply, a second pre-configured text message such as, but not limited to,“NO”,‘Help” or the like, may be sent by tapping a virtual on-screen button provided on a touch screen-based client device 106 or a click of physical button provided on the smartphone that are configured to send the‘negative’ reply.

[051] In case the negative reply is received, or no reply is received in response to the push notification sent at step 260, then at step 270, an assistance team is notified to reach on the location of the worker. Figure 3 illustrates an information flow diagram for receiving a negative reply/no reply and notifying an assistance team, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in the figure, the processor 1024 extracts the location from the corresponding client device 106 using the GPS and sends the location to the assistance team. The assistance team is then instructed to reach the location of worker as soon as possible and offer help to save the worker. It is to be noted here that if the reply received at step 260 is affirmative and then step 270 may be skipped.

[052] But there may be a scenario where the worker does not feel well or is attacked by people with wrongful intentions, within the two predetermined time intervals, for example, just after the worker sends the affirmative reply, he starts to feel ill. Then, in such a situation, at step 280, an emergency notification actuated by the worker is received, indicating the worker is in trouble. Figure 4 illustrates an information flow diagram for receiving the emergency notification and notifying an assistance team, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. The emergency notification may be actuated by tapping an emergency button. The emergency button may be, but not limited to, a virtual on-screen button provided on a touch screen -based client device 106 or a click of physical button provided on the smartphone that are configured to send the emergency notification. Furthermore, the processor 1024 extracts the location of the worker using the GPS of the client device 106 and notifying the assistance team to reach on the location of the worker.

[053] In one embodiment, the assistance team may be provided by a third party having a associated third party server 5 l0. The third party may be, but not limited to, specialized security agency. In that case the processor 1024 may send a notification along with the location of the worker to the third party server 510 notifying about the requirement. The third party server 510 may instruct and send an assistance team to the location and help the worker. The same has been illustrated in figure 5.

[054] In another embodiment, when the emergency notification is received or a negative reply is received or no reply is received in response to the push notification, the processor 1024 may remotely actuate a camera and a microphone of the client device 106, in order to assess the situation of the worker asking for help. Audio and visual if the worker/worksite may help to understand the situation better and may provide moral support to the worker that he is not alone and the help is arriving. Additionally, it may scare away the person with wrongful intentions as he may be caught on camera and caught by the police sooner or later.

[055] In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, the processor 1024 may send a second message to the client device 106 at a second predetermined time after the work shift is over, asking whether the worker is safely home . After that a reply from the client device 106 may be received, the reply being a“YES” or a“NO”. In case the reply is not received the assistance team is notified to reach on the location of the worker (location after leaving the worksite) that is extracted from the corresponding client device 106.

[056] Further, the processor 1024 may also extract the locations of the one or more worker from the one or more client device 106, 106i ... 106h to track the activities of the worker. This may be beneficial to the employers of the workers to keep track of the employees and know exactly where the workers have been assigned and are performing the assigned tasks. In one embodiment, the processor 1024 may send a plurality of tasks assigned to the worker, to the client device 106. Further the processor 1024 may also update the plurality of tasks and inform the worker in case there are changes in work to be done, a location and/or a duration of the work shift.

[057] According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a computer program product. The computer program product comprises computer executable instructions embodied in a non-transitory computer readable storage medium, the computer-executable instructions when executed by a computer, configure the computer to assign the plurality of work shifts to the one or more worker on the associated one or more client devices 106, 106i ... 106h, send a first message at a predetermined time to a client device 106 associated with a worker of the one or more worker, for confirming availability of the worker for the work shift of the plurality of work shifts, receive the reply from the client device 106, the reply being a yes or a no, receive the start notification from the client device 106 indicating that the worker has started the work shift, send the push notification on the client device 106 asking about the status of the worker, after predetermined time intervals, receive the reply indicating the worker is safe, notify the assistance team is to reach on the location of the worker extracted from the corresponding client device 106 in case no reply is received, and receive the emergency notification actuated by the worker indicating the worker being in trouble and notify an assistance team to reach on the location of the worker extracted from the corresponding client device 106.

[058] Figure 6 illustrates an implementation of the computer-implemented method of Figure 2, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 6 depicts a real-time scene of a worksite 630 where a lone-worker 620 is shown communicating with a control room 610. The control room 610 is envisaged to include the computer system 102 and the lone- worker 620 is shown holding the client device 106 for example, the smartphone. A connection is established between the client device 106 and the computer system 102 using the network such as the internet to enable communication between the client device 106 and the computer system 102. In Figure 6, an example of an emergency situation is used for purpose of explanation. The emergency situation may be, but not limited to, bad health, incapacitated to perform his assigned task or any danger to his life.

[059] As illustrated, when the lone-worker 620 faces the emergency situation, he sends the emergency notification to the computer system 102 in the control room 610. As the processor 1024 receives the emergency notification, the processor 1024 extracts the location of the lone- worker 620. Then the location of the lone-worker 620 is sent to the assistance team and the assistance team is instructed to reach the location of the lone-worker 620 at the earliest opportunity to provide help. Till the assistance team reaches the location, the processor 1024 may actuate the camera and the microphone of the client device 106, to enable the personnel in control room understand the situation better with the help of the audio and the visuals.

[060] The present invention offers a number of advantages. Firstly, it provides a cost effective and easy to implement solution to the existing problems. It is an advantage of the present invention that the worker operating on respective worksites receive a message at predetermined time intervals such as, hourly or every 30 mins, to confirm their safety. When they are not able to do so, an assistance team is notified to reach on the location of that worker to help the worker as he may be in trouble. Additionally, if between the predetermined intervals, the worker faces a problem or a health issue, he may send an emergency notification and the assistance team may be sent at the earliest. Additionally, the actuation of camera and the microphone in case of emergency for the workers provides real-time audio and visual of the emergency situation.

[061] This may provide moral support to the worker that he is not alone and the help is arriving. Additionally, it may scare away the person with wrongful intentions as he may be caught on camera and caught by the police sooner or later. The present invention ensures complete safety of the workers not just during working hours but from the time they leave their homes for work shift till the time they reach their home after work shift. Additionally, the present invention enables the employers to keep track of their workers activities during the work shift, using the GPS of the one or more client devices. This would allow employers to make sure that workers were at the required location, where they went during their shifts etc. Additionally, the present invention may be provided as a mobile app for workers and for employers, it may be provided as a website, a mobile app or a device.

[062] It should be understood that the invention can be utilised by any type of worker in any profession who may require assistance. While the invention is useful primarily to those who may work alone or in isolated teams, embodiments of the invention could be used for office workers or in any embodiment where it is necessary to keep track of the work force. As such this could be used in the police force, fire department, event workers (such at sports stadiums) and the like where crowds may be around, but workers need to check in and are able to request assistance. Embodiments of the invention also allow worker locations to be easily checked which can be useful especially where crowds are around workers so that people can be redeployed and/or appropriate instructions given.

[063] In some embodiments, particularly when it comes to monitoring workforces for certain sites like construction and mining, which can vary vastly in scale, it can be difficult to know exactly where workers are during an emergency evacuation procedure. Embodiments of the invention are configured to find any worker in the workforce wherever they are located in an emergency. This can be achieved by polling client devices and displaying the location on an administrator device. This allows staff to show and determine the exact location of the person who is missing from the evacuation roll call. In addition, the invention can send out push messages to the entire workforce notifying them that an incident has occurred during the evacuation. Staff are able to reply to this message if they have any helpful information while they evacuate.

[064] Other features of the invention that can be implemented are as follows.

[065] Help Request - User requests help by pressing help button on the client device.

[066] Automated Check-Ups - User is sent automated notification checking if they are safe. [067] Notification of No Response - If user does not respond, incident managers/ monitoring centre is alerted that user has not responded and may not be okay.

[068] Pre Shift Reminder - User is sent a reminder of their upcoming shift. User needs to respond to confirm they are still on track for this shift. If user does not respond, the incident manager/monitoring centre is notified.

[069] On-Site Confirmation - The client device notifies incident managers/monitoring centre if user is not on-site at shift start.

[070] Shift Extensions - User can extend their end time of their shift manually, ensuring continual check-ups.

[071] Final Destination Alerts - At a predetermined time post shift, users will receive an automated check-up to ensure they have reached their final destination.

[072] Ueaving Geofence Alerts - Incident managers/monitoring centre are alerted any time a user leaves site during their shift.

[073] Shift No Show - If a user does not arrive for their shift, incident managers/monitoring centre will be alerted.

[074] Uocation Services Deactivation Alert - Incident managers/monitoring centre is alerted if a user turns off their location services during a shift. The user’s app is also disabled until the location service is reactivated.

[075] User Early Log Out - Incident manager/monitoring centre is alerted if a user logs out the app before the end of a shift.

[076] Internal Incident Managers - business allocates staff to act as incident managers.

[077] External Incident Monitoring - embodiments provide 24/7 monitoring centre receives all alerts generated by users and take appropriate action based on pre-determined rules agreed upon by implementation.

[078] It should be understood that the techniques of the present disclosure might be implemented using a variety of technologies. For example, the methods described herein may be implemented by a series of computer executable instructions residing on a suitable computer readable medium. Suitable computer readable media may include volatile (e.g. RAM) and/or non-volatile (e.g. ROM, disk) memory, carrier waves and transmission media. Exemplary carrier waves may take the form of electrical, electromagnetic or optical signals conveying digital data steams along a local network or a publicly accessible network such as the Internet.

[079] It should also be understood that, unless specifically stated otherwise as apparent from the following discussion, it is appreciated that throughout the description, discussions utilizing terms such as "controlling" or "obtaining" or "computing" or "storing" or "receiving" or "determining" or the like, refer to the action and processes of a computer system, or similar electronic computing device, that processes and transforms data represented as physical (electronic) quantities within the computer system's registers and memories into other data similarly represented as physical quantities within the computer · system memories or registers or other such information storage, transmission or display devices.

Claims

CLAIMS: The claims defining the invention are as follows:

1. A computer-implemented method for monitoring and assisting one or more worker operating on respective worksites, the computer-implemented method comprising the steps of:

assigning a plurality of work shifts to the one or more worker on associated one or more client devices;

sending a first message at a first predetermined time to a client device associated with a worker of the one or more worker;

receiving a reply from the client device, the reply being indicative of a yes or a no; receiving a start notification from the client device indicating that the worker has started the work shift;

sending a push notification on the client device asking about the status of worker, after predetermined time intervals;

receiving a reply indicating the worker is safe;

notifying an assistance team to reach on the location of the worker extracted from the corresponding client device in case no reply is received; and

receiving an emergency notification actuated by the worker indicating the worker being in trouble and notifying an assistance team to reach on the location of the worker extracted from the corresponding client device.

2. The computer-implemented method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first predetermined time is 1 hour.

3. The computer-implemented method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first message is configured for confirming availability of the worker for a work shift of the plurality of work shifts.

4. The computer-implemented method as claimed in claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

sending a second message to the client device at a second predetermined time after the work shift is over, asking whether the worker is safely home;

receiving a reply from the client device, the reply being indicative of a yes or a no; and

in case no reply is received notifying an assistance team to reach on the location of the worker extracted from the corresponding client device.

5. The computer-implemented method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the one or more worker are selected from a group comprising security guard, construction workers, employees, drivers, technicians and installation professionals working alone and/or in remote area.

6. The computer-implemented method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the one or more client devices are selected from a group comprising smartphones and tablets having atleast a camera, a microphone and a Global Positioning System (GPS).

7. The computer-implemented method as claimed in claim 1, further comprising the step of receiving and tracking the one or more locations of the one or more associated workers, thereby ensuring the presence of the one or more associated workers on respective worksites.

8. The computer-implemented method as claimed in claim 1, further comprising the step of remotely actuating a camera and a microphone of the client device when the emergency notification is received, in order to assess the situation of the worker asking for help.

9. The computer-implemented method as claimed in claim 8, wherein the emergency notification is sent by the worker by actuating an emergency button on the client device.

10. The computer-implemented method as claimed in claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

sending a plurality of tasks to the client device assigned to the worker; and updating the plurality of tasks to in case there are changes in work to be done, the worksite and/or timings of the work shift.

11. A computer system for monitoring and assisting one or more worker operating on respective worksites, the computer system comprising:

a memory unit configured to store machine-readable instructions; and

a processor operably connected with the memory unit, the processor obtaining the machine-readable instructions from the memory unit, and being configured by the machine-readable instructions to:

assign a plurality of work shifts to the one or more worker on associated one or more client devices;

send a first message at a predetermined time to a client device associated with a worker of the one or more worker;

receive a reply from the client device, the reply being indicative of a yes or a no;

receive a start notification from the client device indicating that the worker has started the work shift; send a push notification on the client device asking about the status of worker, after predetermined time intervals;

receive a reply indicating the worker is safe;

notify an assistance team is to reach on the location of the worker extracted from the corresponding client device, in case no reply is received;

receive an emergency notification actuated by the worker indicating the worker being in trouble and notify an assistance team to reach on the location of the worker extracted from the corresponding client device.

12. The computer system as claimed in claim 11, wherein the first predetermined time is 1 hour.

13. The computer system as claimed in claim 11, wherein the first message is configured for confirming availability of the worker for a work shift of the plurality of work shifts.

14. The computer system as claimed in claim 11, wherein the processor is further configured to:

send a second message to the client device, at a second predetermined time after the work shift is over, asking whether the worker is safely home;

receive a reply from the client device, the reply being indicative of a yes or a no; and

in case no reply is received, notify an assistance team to reach on the location of the worker extracted from the corresponding client device.

15. The computer system as claimed in claim 11, wherein the one or more worker are selected from a group comprising security guard, construction workers, employees, drivers, technicians and installation professionals working alone and/or in remote area.

16. The computer system as claimed in claim 11, wherein the one or more client devices are selected from a group comprising smartphones and tablets having atleast a camera, a microphone and a Global Positioning System (GPS).

17. The computer system as claimed in claim 11, wherein the processor is further configured to receive and track the one or more locations of the one or more associated workers, thereby ensuring the presence of the one or more associated workers on respective worksites.

18. The computer system as claimed in claim 11, wherein the processor is further configured to remotely actuate a camera and a microphone of the client device when the emergency notification is received, in order to assess the situation of the worker asking for help.

19. The computer system as claimed in claim 18, wherein the emergency notification is sent by the worker by actuating an emergency button on the client device.

20. A system for monitoring and assisting one or more worker operating on respective worksites, the system comprising a shift scheduler to assign a plurality of work shifts to the one or more worker on associated one or more client devices and to send a first message at a predetermined time to a client device associated with a worker of the one or more worker, for confirming availability of the worker for the work shift of the plurality of work shifts, receive a reply from the client device, the reply being a yes or a no, receive a start notification from the client device indicating that the worker has started the work shift, send a push notification on the client device asking about the status of worker, after predetermined time intervals, receive a reply indicating the worker is safe, notify an assistance team is to reach on the location of the worker extracted from the corresponding client device, in case no reply is received, and receive an emergency notification actuated by the worker indicating the worker being in trouble and notify an assistance team to reach on the location of the worker extracted from the corresponding client device.

21. A system for monitoring and assisting one or more workers on respective work sites comprising: a scheduler for determining a shift for each worker; a client device associated with each worker, whereing the scheduler notifies each worker by way of a message displayed at the client device with details of the worker's shift and wherein at predetermined intervals during the shift the scheduler requests the status of each worker by status notification at each client device wherein each worker is required to actively respond to the status notification to prevent activation of an alarm.