Patent Publication Number: US-2007096930-A1

Title: System and method for detecting proper cleaning of people and items entering a controlled area

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD  
      The present invention relates generally to cleaning people and items entering a controlled area and, more particularly, to determining whether such people and items have been properly cleaned.  
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
      In the food processing and serving industry, it is important to ensure that food workers have properly cleansed themselves, such as by washing their hands after using a wash room, in order to ensure consumers&#39; safety and to meet applicable government standards. Maintaining acceptable levels of personal hygiene is also important in certain manufacturing. processes for commercial, industrial, and military equipment in order to preclude contamination that could render the manufactured products unsuitable or unsafe for their intended uses. Training workers in the methods of proper hygiene and monitoring their compliance have become vital aspects of these industries.  
      Monitoring methods of personal hygiene, such as hand washing, is difficult to accomplish in an effective and non-intrusive manner. Surveillance cameras and people stationed to watch for employees&#39; compliance with personal hygiene requirements are often considered to be intrusions on privacy, particularly where the people watched include non-employees such as restaurant patrons using a wash room. Other existing techniques for monitoring compliance are often very expensive in terms of capital investment and of personnel costs.  
      The same problems of enforcing and monitoring cleanliness standards apply as well to items brought into a controlled or “clean” area in a manufacturing environment.  
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
      In view of the foregoing, the present invention provides a non-intrusive technique for determining whether people and items have been properly cleaned before entering a controlled area.  
      In one embodiment, soap is provided in washrooms, restrooms, sculleries, or other types of facilities for cleaning people and items entering a controlled area. A sensor detects the presence of metallic or other constituents of the soap left behind on the people and items after proper cleaning. The sensor&#39;s output is read to determine whether the people and items have been recently cleaned.  
      Specific people and items can be identified by detecting a signal from a device, such as a radio frequency identification (“RFID”) tag, attached to people and items entering a controlled area. For people, the tag can be incorporated into a name badge or into work clothing. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
      While the appended claims set forth features of the present invention, the invention, together with its objects and advantages, may be best understood from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings of which:  
       FIG. 1  is a perspective illustration of a system, according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, for detecting whether a person has properly cleaned his hands after using a wash room; and  
       FIG. 2  is a flowchart of a method for training employees to comply with personal hygiene requirements. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
      The following description is based on illustrative embodiments of the invention and should not be taken as limiting the invention with regard to alternative embodiments that are not explicitly described herein.  
       FIG. 1  shows an exemplary system  100  for monitoring compliance with personal hygiene requirements. A person to be monitored  102  is issued a name badge or an item of clothing such as a chefs hat that includes an RFID tag  106 , similar to those used for preventing theft in retail stores. When the RFID tag  106  is carried near an electronic sensor  114  at the entrance  116  to a wash room  104 , the RFID tag  106  emits a unique signal. The signal is detected by the sensor  114 , and a record is entered into a database  108 . In that database  108 , the identity of the person  102  is correlated with the unique signal of the RFID tag  106 .  
      In the exemplary wash room  104  of  FIG. 1 , a soap dispenser  110 , located near a washbasin  112 , dispenses soap containing a metallic element to be detected. In addition to detecting the signal from the RFID tag  106 , the electronic sensor  114  can detect the presence of the soap&#39;s metallic element.  
      As the person  102  wearing the RFID tag  106  approaches the entrance  116  of the wash room  104 , the electronic sensor  114  detects the signal from the RFID tag  106 . A record is entered into the database  108  noting the entrance of this particular person  102  into the wash room  104 . After using the wash room  104 , the person  102  washes his hands with the specially formulated soap containing the metallic element and exits the wash room  104 .  
      When the person  102  leaves the wash room  104  through the entrance  116 , the sensor  114  again detects the RFID tag  106 . If the person  102  has properly washed his hands, then the sensor  114  also detects the presence of the soap&#39;s metallic element on the hands of the person  102 . An entry is made in the database  108  recording both the exit of the person  102  and whether or not the soap&#39;s metallic element was detected. If an exit from the wash room  104  is recorded without a detection of the soap&#39;s metallic component, then a report is generated to that effect noting the identity of the person  102  to whom the RFID tag  106  has been assigned. The report indicates that the person  102  entered the controlled area  105  outside of the wash room  104  without properly washing his hands. Management reads the report and either further instructs the person  102  in required hygiene procedures or takes disciplinary action.  
       FIG. 2  shows an exemplary method, according to the present invention, for monitoring compliance with personal hygiene requirements. In step  200 , people to be monitored  102  are instructed in the requirements of personal hygiene, such as, for example, thoroughly washing their hands with soap after using a wash room  104  and before entering a controlled area  105 .  
      A unique RFID tag  106  is assigned to each person  102  in step  202 , and, in step  204 , the assignment of a particular RFID tag  106  to a particular person  102  is recorded in a database  108 .  
      In step  206 , the wash room  104  is provided with soap containing an element detectable by an electronic sensor  114 .  
      In step  208 , the electronic sensor  114  detects the RFID tag  106  when the person  102  wearing it enters the wash room  104 . A record to that effect is made in the database  108  in step  210 . When the person  102  leaves the wash room  104  in step  212 , this is detected by the electronic sensor  114  which also attempts to detect the presence of the specially formulated soap.  
      If the soap was detected, then the procedure of  FIG. 2  simply continues to monitor by returning from step  214  to step  208 . If, on the other hand, no soap was detected, then a report to that effect is generated in step  216 . Upon reading that report, management may decide that further training in personal hygiene is needed, and the method returns to step  200 .  
      For privacy&#39;s sake, in some embodiments of step  214  when the database  108  receives a signal indicating that the person  102  left the wash room  104  with properly washed hands, the database  108  erases the records of that visit to the wash room  104 . In other embodiments, the records are retained to show, for example, whether the person  102  properly washed his hands at the start or the end of a work shift, prior to entering the controlled area  105 , or periodically during a work shift.  
      Those having skill in the art are aware that soaps used for cleaning hands or other items generally do not include metallic elements. Certain medicinal soaps, commonly used to treat skin disorders such as eczema and psoriasis, presently contain minute amounts of metallic constituents such as zinc and chromium. The concentration of such metallic constituents is generally kept small, however (sixteen parts per million, for example), to minimize the cost of the soap and for environmental concerns. In one embodiment of the invention, soaps having such metallic components are used in applications where they have not previously been used, such as for washing hands or other items. It is contemplated that, in addition to the metallic constituents previously used in medicinal soaps, other metallic constituents, such as magnesium, can be used with efficacy in practicing the invention.  
      Although it is contemplated that the electronic sensor  114  is sensitive enough to detect a residue of such metallic elements in the minute amounts presently used by soap manufacturers, it is also contemplated that it may be desirable to use a specially formulated soap that has a higher concentration of such metallic elements to facilitate detection. Any additional cost for increasing the concentration of the metallic constituents would likely be de minimus in comparison to the savings provided by a method or system according to the present invention, especially when compared to previously available alternatives for monitoring compliance with hygiene requirements. The concentrations required for sensing are so small that no environmental concerns are raised by increasing the concentration slightly.  
      It is also contemplated that the electronic sensor  114  is sophisticated enough to detect a particular metallic element or compound to ascertain that the metallic component detected by the electronic sensor  114  did indeed come from the particular soap provided for cleansing and is not a residue of a previous cleaning with another soap. It is further contemplated that non-metallic constituents can be used in practicing the present invention, for example, constituents detectable by sensors  114  sensitive to infra-red or ultra-violet light. Such other detectable constituents can be used alone or in conjunction with metallic constituents.  
      It is still further contemplated that a system or method, according to the present invention, may determine which direction the person being monitored  102  is traveling when he passes the sensor  114 , so that if two people are passing the sensor  114  in close proximity, i.e., one person enters the wash room  104  at the same time another person exits, then the system  100  discerns between the two and detects whether the person entering the controlled area  105  has used the soap provided for cleaning.  
      In view of the many possible embodiments to which the principles of the present invention may be applied, it should be recognized that the embodiments described herein with respect to the drawing figures are meant to be illustrative only and should not be taken as limiting the scope of the invention. Those of skill in the art will recognize that some implementation details are determined by specific situations. Therefore, the invention as described herein contemplates all such embodiments as may come within the scope of the following claims and equivalents thereof.