Patent ID: 8046588

Claim:
A safety audit system, comprising: a sensor identification component comprising at least one sensor that detects a configuration change to a manufacturing system and at least one biometric sensor that senses identifying biometric data for a user of the manufacturing system that makes the configuration change; a lock component that determines whether the configuration change is authorized based at least in part upon the identifying biometric data; and a safety system component that automatically records the configuration change and the identifying biometric data in a safety audit database based at least in part on a safety audit requirement of the manufacturing system, wherein the safety audit database comprises a public portion that is accessible as a history of the configuration change and a private portion implemented at a time of manufacture of the manufacturing system that logs the history of the configuration change and is accessible only to an third party associated with supplying the manufacturing system in the event of an accident, and wherein the safety system component shuts down the manufacturing system in response to the configuration change being unauthorized.