Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!rutgers!rochester!pt.cs.cmu.edu!sei!rek
From: rek@sei.cmu.edu (Bob Kubiak)
Newsgroups: comp.software-eng
Subject: Re: Software Safety
Keywords: Software Safety
Message-ID: <3054@fx.sei.cmu.edu>
Date: 21 Feb 89 14:35:05 GMT
References: <451@laic.UUCP>
Reply-To: rek@sei.cmu.edu (Bob Kubiak)
Distribution: usa
Organization: Software Engineering Institute, Pittsburgh, PA
Lines: 45

In article <451@laic.UUCP> rieger@nova.laic.uucp (Bob Rieger) writes:
>Has anyone heard about the topic of Software Safety.  I am currently 
>tasked with performing safety analysis and would appreciate any and 
>all information on the subject including generic software safety 
>specifications and hazard analysis methods.  

The Education Program at the Software Engineering Institute produces
curriculum modules which are intended to serve as a basis for instructors
designing courses in software engineering.  One is listed as:

  SEI-CM-6-1.1   Preliminary   Software Safety
                               Nancy Leveson, University of California, Irvine

  Software safety involves ensuring that software will execute within a system
  context without resulting in unacceptable risk.  Building safety-critical
  software requires special procedures to be used in all phases of the
  software development process.  This module introduces the problems involved
  in building such software along with the procedures that can be used to
  enhance the safety of the resulting software product.

From what I've seen (I'm not in the Education Program, but I have read most
of the curriculum modules) the SEI curriculum modules typically have a very
good introductory section on the topic, as well as good bibliographies (they
obviously include other information, such as suggested course outlines).
The above module is listed as being a "preliminary" version, but you would
probably find these sections to be of some use to you.  The following are
the official instructions on how to go about obtaining a copy:

  "If you would like to request a copy of one or more of the following
   documents, please submit your *written* request, accompanied by a mailing
   label, to the Software Engineering Institute, Carnegie Mellon University,
   Pittsburgh, PA 15213, Attn: Donna Mahoney."

The only things I can add are: 1) you might use the zip code 15213-3890 [it
will get here a little faster], and 2) please don't ask me to send you a
copy.

>
>Bob Rieger
>uunet!amdahl!pyramid!leadsv!nova!rieger

Bob Kubiak
Computing Facilities
Software Engineering Institute
rek@sei.cmu.edu