Patent ID: 8508332

Claim:
A method of controlling access to a restricted area containing industrial machinery comprising the steps of: requesting access to said restricted area, wherein requesting access includes the steps of: receiving with a mobile communication device a location identifier from a stationary communication device associated with said restricted area; transmitting a first set of data including the location identifier associated with said restricted area and a further identifier associated with the mobile communication device to a remote processor; and verifying said location identifier and said further identifier at the remote processor; providing a first control signal to a controller associated with said restricted area from the remote processor based upon said verifying of said location identifier and said further identifier, said controller being arranged to control said industrial machinery to operate in a first mode in response to said first control signal; and restarting said industrial machinery, wherein restarting said industrial machinery includes the steps of: transmitting a second set of data including the location identifier associated with said restricted area and the further identifier associated with the mobile communication device to the remote processor; verifying that the further identifier transmitted in the second set of data comprises a match with the further identifier transmitted in the first set of data; and providing a second control signal to the controller associated with said restricted area from the remote processor based upon said verifying of further identifier from the first and second sets of data, said controller being arranged to control said machinery to operate in a second mode in response to said second control signal.