Development of a System Safety Case for Automotive Electrical/Electronic Systems

摘要

System safety engineering is the application of special technical methods and managerial processes in a systematic manner to identify, evaluate and minimize the risk of potential hazards throughout the system life cycle of a product. System safety engineering’s objective is to eliminate or minimize the impact of system hazard(s) to an acceptable level. The goal of system safety is to address both random and systematic issues that can potentially lead to safety concerns. A system safety engineering process should be comprehensive, systematic, and fully integrated with the development process of the system. Within the process, several complementary critical safety analyses, tests, and assessment activities are iteratively conducted throughout the development of the system. This begins at the concept phase and continues throughout the deployment of the product. The system safety case is progressively developed and independently assessed throughout the system development process. The timing of the safety assessments in the system development process are such that they are able to influence the design and development of the system in an efficient manner. The criteria for the development and assessment of the safety case must be comprehensive, considering both systematic and random factors to address process and product related requirements and constraints. This paper will define a system safety case and provide an overview of its development within the GM system safety engineering process as it applies to future automotive embedded motion control Electrical/Electronic (E/E) systems.