Assesment of Software Safety via Catastrophic Events Coverage

As we depend more and more on software intensive systems, safety is of paramount importance. This paper attempts to address the often-neglected topic of safety assessment for software intensive systems. A thorough analysis of system hazards, and related catastrophic events, allows the developers to assess the system safety by identifying all potential catastrophic events and their impact on requirements, design, and other mitigation means. If we can present an argument that all hazards leading to catastrophic events have been handled, we defacto establish a baseline for a “safe” system. This paper proposes classification of hazards and catastrophic events from the perspective of the software modules implementing the target system functionality.