Hazard identification in programmable system: a methodology and case study

This paper describes the application of a methodology developed to meet the need for hazard identification in programmable systems. The methodology was derived using real incident data and assesses the safety of a system by decomposing high level requirements into tasks. The tasks are analysed using a new graphical technique and the safety of tasks is assessed by using attributes/guide-words and associated questions. A case study is used to examine the effectiveness and feasibility of the methodology. It demonstrates that the application of the methodology is useful in identifying hazards, complements and enhances the development of a system and can be used by non-software specialists.