Planning for Safety Evidence Collection: A Tool-Supported Approach Based on Modeling of Standards Compliance Information

Safety-critical software-dependent systems such as those found in the avionics, automotive, maritime, and energy domains often need to be certified based on one or more safety standards. An important prerequisite for demonstrating compliance to software safety standards such as IEC 61508 is the collection of safety evidence. Without an upfront agreement between the system supplier and the certifier about the evidence that needs to be collected, there will invariably be important omissions, which will need to be remedied after the fact and at significant costs. In this article, we present a flexible approach and a supporting tool for assisting suppliers and certifiers in developing an agreement about the evidence necessary to demonstrate compliance to a safety standard. The approach is model-based; specifically, the safety standard of interest is expressed via an information model. The supporting tool, which is available online, takes this information model as input and helps system suppliers and the certifiers in reaching a documented and consistent agreement about the safety evidence that needs to be collected. KeywordsII.XIX.II.Planning for SQA and V&V, II.0.IV Standards, IV.II.15 Software and System Safety. ——————————  ——————————