Software System Safety Engineering Training

Software System Safety Engineering Training is a 3-day course where participants learn about the need for Software Systems Safety (SwSS) as well as learn about the directives, documents, policies and regulations related to SwSS.

Studies have shown that the longer it takes to detect the defect as it is promoted through its life cycle, the more difficult and costly it is to fix the problem. White-box testing comprises static and dynamic analyses.

Software safety encompasses all areas of business operations including job hazard analysis, incident management, inspections, auditing and ergonomics.

Safety of a system refers to the potential for the system to cause harm. As software cannot cause harm directly, software safety requirements are requirements which constrain the software to behave in ways which do not contribute unacceptably to system safety violations within a given context of use.

Because software safety is a concept which is only meaningful within a system context, it follows that software safety requirements must be obtained from information about hazards of the wider system. Consequently, any restriction on information pertaining to these hazards can lead to ambiguous or conflicting software safety requirements.

Besides the potential for injury, the total cost of poor software quality in the U.S. is estimated at $2.08 trillion.

Some would argue that software safety has evolved to be a parallel effort to the development of the software itself. System safety engineers are involved in each step of the software development process identifying which functions are critical to the safe functioning of the greater system and tracing those functions down into the software modules which support them.

Many organizations and agencies have turned to software safety in a big way. NASA, for example, has a software safety guidebook online that describes the software safety effort as a part of a larger system safety program.

The Department of Defense has a handbook as well and other good links.

Needless to say, software safety is extremely important in all sectors, including the Department of Defense. The degree of importance is illustrated in the last revision of Military Standard (MIL-STD) 882E, which added software systems safety techniques and practices.

The improved software safety process resulted in minimizing risks to soldiers during an Urgent Materiel Release (UMR) of PDB-8 and identified firmware as the next target for improvement.

Additionally, as part of development of PDB-8.1 a software and hardware component was changed resulting in a significant reduction in Safety Critical Requirements (SCR) as shown by a reduction in Software Hardware Risk Indexes (SHRI) 1 through 4.

Unlike hardware, software is only susceptible to errors introduced during their design (systematic failures), evolution and maintenance.

Software operational safety is a useful tool for ensuring that the safest possible decisions are made, and allows you to consider the demands of reliability (systems failure resistance, recovery); maintainability (ease of modification, testability); availability (returns on performance, efficiency); and safety (functional capacity) of your software.

Software System Safety Engineering Training by Tonex

Software System Safety Engineering Training is a 3-day crash course style covering all aspects of Software System Safety Engineering (SSSE). The 3-day bootcamp focuses on Software System Safety (SwSS) and its primary objectives: to design, code, test, and support software with the appropriate Level‐of‐Rigor (LOR) to instill a confidence, or the assurance of safe software; and to define the necessary safety requirements for the design, code, test, verification, and validation of software that specifically target and mitigate the software “causes” of the defined hazards and mishaps of the system.

Software system safety is a subset of system safety and system engineering and is synonymous with the software engineering aspects of Functional Safety.

In 2024, Software System Safety Engineering Training Courses focus on imparting crucial skills to professionals, emphasizing risk identification, mitigation, and compliance with evolving industry standards to ensure software reliability and safety.

Learning Objectives

Software System Safety Engineering Training would help participants learn the following upon completion:

• The need for Software System Safety (SwSS) and the relationship between system safety and SwSS
• Directives, documents, policies and regulations related to SwSS
• The detailed instruction on the SwSS process, including a variety of analyses and tools
• Planning details for a SwSS program to include hazard identification, tracking, risk assessment, risk reduction and risk acceptance as applicable to SwSS

Who Should Attend

Software engineers, safety engineers, system engineers, Testing and V&V engineers and project managers, analysts and anyone else who is interested to acquire skills in software system safety.

Course Agenda

Introduction to Software System Safety Engineering (SSSE)

• Software Engineering and Software System Safety
• Introduction to the “Systems” Approach
• The Hardware Development Life Cycle
• The Software Development Life Cycle
• Principles of system safety in the design, development, use, and maintenance of software systems
• Integration with safety-critical hardware systems in an operational environment.
• Software System Safety Engineering
• The Need for Software System Safety (SwSS)
• Relationship between System Safety and SwSS
• Software System Safety Directives, Documents, Policies and Regulations
• Functional safety
• Safety Requirements and Critical Functionalities
• Hazards and Design Safeguards for Mitigation
• Safety Critical Functions
• Sound Human Engineering Principles

System Safety Program Plan 

• Software Safety Program Plan
• Preliminary Hazard List
• Safety Critical Functions List
• Preliminary Hazard Analysis
• Subsystem Hazard Analysis
• System Hazard Analysis
• Safety Requirements Criteria Analysis
• Safety Requirements Verification Report
• Safety Assessment Report

Introduction to Risk Management and System Safety

• A Discussion of Risk
• Types of Risk
• Areas of Program Risk
• System Safety Engineering
• Safety Risk Management

Software System Safety Implementation Process and Tasks       

• Software System Safety Process
• Software System Safety Analyses and Tools
• Software System Safety Planning
• Hazard Identification
• Tracking
• Risk Assessment
• Risk Mitigation
• Risk Reduction
• Failure modes, including hardware, software, human and system are addressed in the design of the software
• Failure Mode Effect Analysis (FMEA)
• Failure mode, effects and Criticality Analysis (FMECA)
• Sound software engineering practices
• Safety issues and safety attributes
• Software with safety critical functionality

Software Safety Engineering Process

• Software Safety Engineering Process Charts
• Software Safety Engineering Products and Tools
• Software Safety Planning Management
• Planning
• Management
• Software Safety Program Milestones
• Tailoring Generic Safety-Critical Requirements
• Preliminary Hazard Analysis Development
• Derive System Safety-Critical Software Requirements
• Preliminary Software Design, Subsystem Hazard Analysis
• Module Safety-Criticality Analysis
• Program Structure Analysis
• Traceability Analysis
• Detailed Software Design, Subsystem Hazard Analysis

Software Safety Engineering Process Cross Activities

• Software Requirements Hazard Analysis
• Top-level Design Hazard Analysis
• Preliminary Design Review (PDR)
• Detailed Design Hazard Analysis:
• Critical Design Review (CDR)
• Code-level Software Hazard Analysis
• Software Safety Testing
• Software/User Interface Analysis
• Software Change Hazard Analysis
• Analysis of Alternatives (AoA)
• Initial Capabilities Document (ICD)
• Systems Engineering Plan (SEP)
• Technology Development Strategy (TDS)
• Test & Evaluation Strategy (TES)

System Hazard Analysis

• Software Safety Testing & Risk Assessment
• Software Safety Test Planning
• Software Safety Test Analysis
• Software Standards and Criteria Assessment
• Software Safety Residual Risk Assessment
• Safety Assessment Report
• Safety Assessment

The Integration of Hardware and Software Life Cycles 

• Planning and Management
• Task Implementation
• Software Risk Assessment and Acceptance

Planning Interfaces 

• Engineering Management
• Design Engineering
• Systems Engineering
• Software System Safety Handbook
• Software Development
• Integrated Logistics Support
• Other Engineering Support

Meetings and Reviews 

• Program Management Reviews
• Integrated Product Team Meetings
• System Requirements Reviews
• System/Subsystem Design Reviews
• Preliminary Design Review
• Critical Design Review
• Test Readiness Review
• Functional Configuration Audit
• Physical Configuration Audit
• Resource Allocation
• Safety Personnel
• Safety Schedules and Milestones
• Safety Tools and Training
• Required Hardware and Software

 Program Plans 

• Risk Management Plan
• Quality Assurance Plan
• Reliability Engineering Plan
• Software Development Plan
• Systems Engineering Management Plan
• Test and Evaluation Master Plan
• Software Test Plan
• Software Installation Plan
• Software Transition Plan

Types of Safety Requirements and Procedures

• Hardware and Human Interface Requirements
• Interface Requirements
• Operations and Support Requirements
• Safety/Warning Device Requirements
• Protective Equipment Requirements
• Procedures and Training Requirements
• Determination of Safety Critical Computing System Functions
• Design and Development Process Requirements And Guidelines
• Configuration Control
• Software Quality Assurance Program
• Software Design Verification and Validation
• System Design Requirements and Guidelines
• Designed Safe States

Software Safety Requirements Verification   

• Hierarchy Tree Example
• Detailed Software Design Analysis
• Verification Methods
• Example of a Data Flow Diagram
• Flow Chart Examples
• System Hazard Analysis
• Example of a System Hazard Analysis Interface Analysis
• Documentation of Interface Hazards and Safety Requirements
• Documenting Evidence of Hazard Mitigation
• Software Safety Test Planning
• Software Safety Testing and Analysis
• Software Requirements Verification
• Residual Safety Risk Assessment
• SSHA & SHA Hazard Record Example
• Hazard Requirement Verification Document Example
• Software Safety SOW Paragraphs
• Hazard Severity
• Hazard Probability
• Table HRI Matrix
• Process Tradeoff Analyses
• Example of a Software Safety Requirements Verification Matrix
• Safety critical Function Matrix

Workshop and Case Studies

• Sample System Safety Requirements
• Sample Software Safety Requirements
• Software and System Hazard Analysis (SHA)
• System hazard analysis (SHA)
• Sample Software Requirements Hazard Analysis
• Sample Software FMEA and FMECA Analysis
• Sneak Analysis
• Petri Nets.