Safety Hazard Analysis Tool Receives Excellence in Technology Transfer Award
Targeted News Service |
Volpe's Safety Hazard Analysis Tool (SafetyHAT) received the
Dr.
"After winning Volpe's 2012 Innovation Challenge grant to develop this software, we have received a number of inquiries about the tool's availability," said
According to
SafetyHAT, a software tool that is free for public download, was designed to facilitate the hazard analysis of complex systems, such as electronic control systems. It helps safety analysts efficiently and effectively carry out the System Theoretic Process Analysis (STPA).
STPA logo is a hazard identification method based on a top-down system engineering approach and control systems theory. It provides an algorithmic and well-guided analysis process that identifies the causes of system hazards, including hardware component failures, software errors, complex system interactions, human errors, and inadequate organization management, policy, and procedures.
"Since STPA is a relatively new hazard analysis method, SafetyHAT helps break down the analysis steps and provides user-friendly data entry forms and succinct guidance to help the analysts quickly get up to speed with the method," explained
A comprehensive hazard analysis for a complex system typically generates a long list of hazards and causal factors, said
The output of STPA and SafetyHAT is a list of identified causes of hazards that can be used to do the following:
- Develop safety requirements and testing scenarios
- Initiate risk analysis, risk control, and system assessment activities
- Design and assess safety solutions
Within three months of its public release, SafetyHAT attracted more than 150 users from five continents, distributed across industry (45 percent), the public sector (35 percent), and academia (15 percent).
When asked about the tool's potential uses,
SafetyHAT users include those in the energy, healthcare, and insurance industries and the military. It has prompted inquiries on how STPA might be used for assessing human behavior as part of railroad grade crossing safety systems and infrastructure safety hazards arising from extreme weather events.
The first known application of SafetyHAT outside of Volpe was an application to the
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