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Automated Muster System(AMS)

System DescriptionJanuary, 2012


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MRT-AMS-White Paper

Marine Rescue Technologies, Inc.; 539 Cross Creek Circle, Sebastian Florida, 32958

Phone: 772.388.1326; Fax: 772.5940157; [email protected] Page 1

The Muster Drill Problem

The International Ships and Port Facility Security Code (ISPS), the International Convention for

the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS), and other international and corporate safety protocols, codes

and conventions require frequent safety drills to make sure that the personnel training,procedures, and equipment employed on maritime platforms is adequate to ensure the safety

of personnel-on-board responding to an emergency situation. Similarly, there are a number of

statutory requirements imposed on land based drilling rigs and other industrial facilities for a

variety of safety related drills. While these drills are necessary, their conduct is generally

disruptive to production activities. Drills take personnel away from their duty stations,

documentation of the drill results is time consuming, records must be maintained, and reports

prepared and disseminated.

The safety drill procedures employed by most production oriented facilities are generallymanual in nature in terms of identifying and reporting the personnel-on-board, the tracking of

personnel assigned to muster stations, and the generation and transmission of reports to

operations and management personnel. Radios are frequently used for communication

between muster stations and drill management personnel, spreadsheets may be used for

reporting drill results the procedures are generally reactive in nature and provide very little

real-time information during the drill or emergency resulting in poor situational awareness.

Safety drills are costly and disruptive to production operations. Automating the conduct of

these drills and the associated reporting can dramatically increase situational awarenessresulting in improved response to emergencies and significantly reduce the costs associated

with the disruption of production activities by reducing the time required for drill execution.

Automated Muster System Description

The Automated Muster System (AMS) is an Information Technology (IT) based Personnel-on-

Board (POB) and Muster Drill solution for correcting the inefficiencies of manual or semi-

automated safety drill execution. Marine Rescue Technologies, Inc. (MRT), and FaceKey

Corporation designed the AMS, based upon Muster Guard, a flexible, modular softwareapplication.

AMS system functionality addresses requirements for Personnel-on-Premise (POP) or

Personnel-on-Board (POB) status, the execution and documentation of required Muster Drills,

and recording attendance at safety or training meetings. Muster Guard installs and executes


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Features Report of missing person(s)

Report missing person(s) last location

Communicates over Ethernet

Operates outdoors

Easy to install

Multiple locations (TCP/IP)

Centralized enrollment

Benefits Reports in real time

Effective deployment of emergency

resources

Integrated emergency response plan

Reduced insurance costs

Protects safety ratings

on a standard Ethernet based corporate network or can be implemented on a dedicated

Ethernet network for enhancement of reliability and survivability. Personnel Check-ins or

identification at muster stations is performed at the device/station level not on the network

server. This allows for network communications to remain active while data is being

transmitted during muster station operation.

In the event of a crisis requiring evacuation, the AMS will provide a list of missing personsin

real time. Then, first responders and managers can utilize the report to deploy their emergency

resources more effectively. The AMS, when deployed on robust networks can be configured to

provide system redundancy for enhancing system survivability and operation under extreme

emergency situations. It can be configured for an unlimited number of muster station readers

(data collectors) that provide real time situational awareness and readiness assessment. The

AMS is scalable and can be tailored for any site or facility; it is extensible and can be expanded

to serve as an enterprise level management system for status of POP, POB, muster drills, and

meeting management and documentation ensuring compliance with regulations.

AMS Software

AMS software includes the following functional categories or modules: NOTE: These modules

may be installed individually as needed. Some facilities may not require all modules.

AMS Personnel-on-Board Module

AMS Muster Management Module

AMS Meeting Management Module

AMS Network Management Module

AMS Personnel-on-Board (POB) or Personnel-on-Premise (POP) Module

The POB Module provides real-time visibility of POB or POP. Accurate and real time registration

data for personnel entering and leaving a facility/vessel is essential for the AMS system to

operate correctly. All personnel entering the facility must be enrolled or registered and

checked in to ensure proper accountability. During enrollment, each person, based on their


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cabin/bunk/duty location assignment, will be assigned to a specific muster station(s).

Personnel will check in upon entry at the site/vessel/facility and check out upon exiting via

registration stations specifically designated for tracking personnel movement onto and off of

the location, typically the responsibility of a Purser. Accuracy will be impacted and deviations

may occur if the system is used or configured improperly. See Figure 1 below for a notionalrepresentation of the enrollment screen.

Figure 1 Notional Registration/Enrollment Screen

The POB module will provide the additional capability of assigning any combination of proximity

cards, fingerprint registrations and PIN Numbers to crew. Staying as closely in-line with

existing procedures as possible, ID badges can be printed on the Proximity Card, precluding the

need for personnel to carry additional identification/credentials while on site. See Figure 2

Notional AMS Personnel-on-Board Screen for additional information on the functionality of thePOB Module.

The POB software will also have additional capabilities including:

Track and alert crew expiration dates (Visa, Passport, Medical, BOSIET)

Print reports (Crew Listing, POB, Shift Reports, Cabin Plan, Station Bill, Rotation Lists)


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Figure 2 Notional AMS Personnel-on-Board Screen

AMS Muster Management Module

During a drill or a real emergency, attendance at each of the muster stations is taken

automatically by keypad, proximity RFID, or fingerprint based readers. The Muster roll call and

tally is compared against the personnel on board (POB) recorded by the Muster Guard POB

system maintained by the purser or other responsible official. Muster roll call personnel status

reports are available in near real time and provide a list of personnel in attendance, personnel

who are missing and personnel that are at the wrong muster station thereby providing

compliance with ISPS regulations.

The AMS Muster Management Module supports the operation and processing of data from

unlimited numbers ofReaders and Monitor Screens. It is implemented with a laptop or

desktop personal computer (PC) throughout the site(s), with a Master screen located at the

operations center or vessel wheelhouse. Most facilities/sites/vessels will require only one or

two implementations: a Master and a Slave Muster Management Station (MMS). The Muster


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Management Module provides for visual indication of all personnel movement activity at each

muster station in near real time.

All muster stations are equipped with a card reader, PIN input device, fingerprint reader, or

facial recognition system for personnel to check in during announced drill event or in actualemergencies. Reader devices are available that incorporate multiple input functions to

enhance the integrity of the identification function. It is recommended that two input actions

be required, e.g. both fingerprints and PIN numbers, to validate a persons identification at a

reader.

At the Master Muster Management Station (MMS), onboard a vessel it would be the bridge, a

monitor displays the name of the drill event in progress and the personnel who have checked

in. During an announced event, monitors at the muster stations will display a two column list of

personnel. In the left column, a listing of all personnel assigned to that specific station will be

displayed. As personnel check in their name will then move to the right hand column,

showing they have been accounted for. As personnel check in, the number of people on the

assigned list (list on the left column), i.e. the Missing Person Report, will decrement

eventually to zero when the last person assigned to that muster location checks in. To provide

positive feedback to personnel checking in, a green light mounted above the reader will turn on

momentarily indicating that the Read was successfully performed. Figure 3 is an example of

the muster operations screen.


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Figure 3 Muster Operations Screen

Crew members names that are exempt from the drill will automatically be shown with yellow,while persons with an assigned duty will be shown in blue. Typically when a crew member with

an emergency response assigned duty checks in at their duty station, .e.g. Fire Station, their

color will turn to green, letting the personnel at the muster station know they have been

accounted for and have checked in at another station for the moment. Personnel monitoring

from the muster point(s) will be able to monitor each person as they move from station to

station, leaving only those who are truly unaccounted for. Management personnel will also be

able to modify/edit personnel considered exempt, as well as be able to manually move

personnel from one station to another in the AMS using a Muster Management Station (MMS)

personal computer connected to the system.


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The MMS will also provide the capability to print reports of all drills/training events with names,

location, times personnel checked in, and a list of personnel indicating the muster station each

person is assigned to. Reports can be exported to standard formats and presentation changed

by 3rd

party software, e.g. Microsoft Office applications.

Figure 4 AMS Muster Management Module Report Examples

AMS Meeting Management Module

Having Readers located at the Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) building or cafeteria

where safety meetings are normally held will facilitate the taking of attendance of personnel

attending meetings or other training activities. Similar to muster drills, each crewmember will

check in through the Reader at the location of the meeting instead of signing in by paper.This provides a historical date/time account of all personnel who attended specific training

events or safety meetings. This will enable the HSE from their AMS computer to easily print or

email the corresponding attendance reports. Administrators, of course, will be able to add or

edit new safety meetings or training classes as they arise.

8/15/2010 Marine R escu e Technologies 19

Global Reports - Customizable

8/15/2010 Marine Rescue Technologies 19

Global Reports - Customizable


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Figure 5 Meeting Attendance Screenshot

AMS Network Management ModuleThe AMS Network Management Module will be installed on a server and used to add or remove

network devices and to monitor and capture network status and data. This module will be

managed by a designated LAN administrator.

Automated Muster System (AMS) Benefits

The AMS program improves health and safety of employees, contractors, and guests

due to the immediate availability of accurate POB information.

Routine mustering exercises are conducted much faster and easier with the AMS state-

of-the-art equipment and software providing an accurate accounting of POB.

Reducing time spent searching the site, especially in hazardous areas, looking for

persons who are not really missing will be dramatically reduced.

The near real-time reports from the muster exercise will prevent delays in the

management executing options, such as calling for an abandon of site.

Muster drill sign-in sheets will not go missing.


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AMS reports will show where each person signed in and if they are needed to support

the emergency, the personnel can then be summoned swiftly.

AMS will reduce redundant data entry and reduce errors.

The AMS reports will show in near real time, the personnel unaccounted for, providing

the management with a clear picture of the progress of the muster exercise even ifradio contact is disrupted or congested with other emergency messages.

The AMS dramatically saves time and money.

Network Implementation Considerations and Examples

MRT can design and implement AMS system network architecture and topology to meet the

specific requirements for a vessel/site/facility. A software development kit (SDK) allows for

ease of integration with access control, video surveillance, third party databases, and Command

and Control systems.

In the simplest implementation, the AMS would be installed on an existing network perhaps

requiring only the installation of LAN drops at the Muster Stations and power provided for the

reader and displays. In the case of maritime platforms operating in blue water however,

system survivability and reliability may be paramount dictating a design that features dual

mirrored servers, a dedicated DC supply system for readers and displays, and a dual ring

topology for maximum reliability and survivability. In this scenario, Uninterruptable Power

Supplies (UPS) would be included in the design to ensure network equipment operation even if

ships power is interrupted. All muster station reader and display devices are powered by a

dedicated 24V distribution system to ensure muster station operation during emergencies and

dual servers located port and starboard, each with twin hard drives and RAID 1 implementation

will help to ensure AMS operation even when there is a catastrophic failure of one of the

servers. Figure 6, below is a notional representation of a High Survivability topology

implementation.


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Figure 6AMS High Survivability Topology

MRT can provide custom engineered designs for applications where the operating locations

requiring interconnectivity are geographically separated up to several kilometers. If all siteshave World Wide Web connectivity then internet connectivity would be employed but if not we

recommend a wireless mesh Wide Area Network (WAN) to provide data communications

between two or more sites. Highly reliable Mesh Dynamics radios would be used with

directional antenna mounted on towers to facilitate line-of-sight operations for implementation

of the WAN. Locally, at both locations, we could implement wireless local-area-networks (LAN)


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with all nodes utilizing outdoor external antennas to ensure the integrity of all interconnections

on the wireless LAN. A server, located at a Main Camp would host the AMS database. The

server will feature redundant solid state hard drives with RAID 1 implemented to ensure the

integrity of data storage. See figure 7 below for a notional representation of the AMS system

WAN architecture.

Figure 7 Notional Wireless WAN Implementation Topology

Readers

Facekey Corporation offers a wide variety of Proximity Card Readers (RFIP), facial recognition

readers, Fingerprint Readers, and Personal Identification Number (PIN) devices, including manythat have multifunction capability. Readers and displays will be selected based upon site

requirements. To review available readers, download the Product Catalog from the FaceKey

website: http://www.facekey.com/
http://www.facekey.com/http://www.facekey.com/http://www.facekey.com/

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