Software Safety at the University of Washington

Software is playing an increasingly important role in systems such as nuclear reactors, aircraft, defence and space systems, chemical plants, and medical equipment. Although system safety engineering techniques have existed for decades, changes and extentions are required for systems that contain digital computers and software.

The goal of the University of Washington Safety Project is to develop a theoretical foundation for safety and a methodology for building safety-critical systems built upon that foundation. The methology includes special management structures and procedures, system hazard analysis, software hazard analysis, requirements modeling and analysis for completeness and safety, special software design techniques, including design of human-machine interaction, verification (both testing and code analysis), operational feedback, and change analysis. In Safeware: System Safety and Computers, Nancy Leveson summarizes the issues involved and lays the foundation for the methodology. We are now working on safety analysis techniques to support the methodology and building a set of prototype tools to experiment with and validate the techniques and overall methodology. A company, Safeware Engineering Corporation has been established to transfer the research ideas to industrial practice and commercial tools.






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