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The U.S. Navy currently has no formal certification for safety engineers concentrating in software safety. The Naval Ordnance Safety and Security Activity (NOSSA) has led an effort to educate personnel regarding the development and support of Naval Weapon Systems. The Weapon System Explosive Safety Review Board's (WSESRB) Interactive Safety Environment (WISE) training tool is a step in the right direction, but further formal training is needed to support experience in software safety. There is a need to avoid a situation in which untrained software safety engineers are arbitrarily appointed tasks. This should not be based on education or experience alone, but rather on a combination of experience, education and certification. A documented certification process will only improve systems required to be safe that depend on software. The following are several options to obtain a solid software and systems safety background for Navy applications.
Naval Ordnance Safety and Security Activity
NOSSA is a field activity of the Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA). NOSSA manages all aspects of the Department of the Navy (DoN) Explosive Safety Program. As the NAVSEA technical authority for explosive safety, NOSSA is responsible for providing technical policies, procedures and design criteria associated with weapons systems safety, including software safety across the warfare disciplines. NOSSA manages all programmatic policy requirements for the five major DoN Explosive Safety Program component programs: Ordnance Safety and Security, Weapons and Combat System Safety, Ordnance Environmental Support Office, Insensitive Munitions Office, and Weapons and Ordnance Quality Evaluation.1
NOSSA Certification and Training
The NOSSA objective for certification and training is to establish a reasonable and recognizable assurance of the system safety competencies necessary in managing today's complex systems and Research, Development, Test & Evaluation (RDT&E) efforts. The ultimate goals of NOSSA's certification process are to promote those qualitative characteristics required of Naval and support contractor personnel engaged in system safety practices, and to enhance the system safety engineering processes within existing and future Navy acquisition programs. In complying with current requirements, it is critical that a process is established by which personnel qualifications and training can be measured and confirmed.
WISE Online Training
The WISE training program provides the medium for achieving Principal for Safety (PFS) certification. Through a series of testable modules, a potential candidate can gain access to the body of knowledge required to perform as an effective PFS for DoN programs.2
Software Safety Handbook
In 1999, the Joint Software System Safety Committee developed a handbook to provide management and engineering guidelines to achieve a reasonable level of assurance that the software will execute within the system context with an acceptable level of safety risk. The handbook is both a reference document and a management tool for aiding managers and engineers at all levels, in any government or industrial organization. It demonstrates "how to" in the development and implementation of an effective software system safety process. This process minimizes the likelihood or severity of system hazards caused by poorly specified, designed, developed or operated software in safety-critical applications.3
GRADUATE-LEVEL PROGRAMS
There are a number of graduate-level courses and programs offered in system safety. These include those at the University of Southern California (USC), Embry-Riddle University, the University of York, Texas A&M and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). MIT has a program that concentrates on software engineering (SERL, or Software Engineering Research Laboratories).
University of Southern California
The USC Viterbi School of Engineering provides a four-day course in software safety, in addition to a two-week course in systems engineering. These courses support certification in USC Aviation Safety and Security.4
The software safety course presents philosophies and methods of developing and analyzing software, and highlights managing a software safety program. Software design principles are taught to create programs that are fault tolerant and acceptably safe. Several software hazard analysis methods are evaluated, including fault tree/soft tree, software sneak analysis, and petri nets. The course objective is to provide an understanding of the nature of software hazards, root causes and the methods by which these hazards may be prevented or discovered. The course also provides instruction using administrative methods and documentation needed to establish and manage a software safety program. Providing evidence for a safety case or proof is also covered. This course is designed for systems managers and engineers, systems safety engineers, and software engineers who are involved with developing systems that possess major software components and are responsible for their safety. Recommendations for preparation for this course include attending the System Safety Engineering course and some understanding of software.5
Embry-Riddle University
Embry-Riddle University doesn't offer a specific software safety course, but it does have a Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degree in safety science. The Bachelor of Science degree is taught at the Daytona Beach, Florida, campus.6 The Master of Science degree is taught at the Prescott, Arizona, campus.7 Both the Bachelor's and Master's degrees concentrate on the aeronautics field.
The University of York
The University of York provides a systems safety engineering (SSE) certificate course. The two-year course has six modules. Each module is taught full time in York, England, for one week. Its associated assessed exercise, which may be completed on or off site, takes an additional approximate 35 hours. All assessed exercises are open, comprising a report, case study or documented piece of software.8
NPS Monterey – Weapons System Software Safety
The Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California, offers a weapons system software safety course, a requirement for a Master's degree in systems engineering. SW45829 provides the foundation for software systems safety. The course focuses heavily on the software engineering aspects of the discipline; the content injects enough systems safety engineering principles to ensure that the graduates fully understand their responsibility in the overall system development process.
University of Washington
The University of Washington College of Engineering, in the state of Washington, periodically offers software systems safety courses, in addition to system safety management and reliability analysis. The software systems safety course is a five-day course that provides the knowledge needed to implement a practical software safety effort for maximum impact on design and test activities.10
SYMPOSIUMS AND CONFERENCES
The International System Safety Conference (ISSC) is held annually during the summer. The Joint Weapon System Safety Conference (JWSSC) is often held in conjunction with the ISSC. The 2007 ISSC/JWSSC is scheduled for August 13-17 in Baltimore, Maryland.11
The newly created Technical Committee on system safety under the IEEE System Society is holding a series of annual international workshops on issues relating to the safety of systems of national and global significance. The first event was held in March, 2007, at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California.12
The IEEE International Symposium on Dependable Autonomic and Secure Computing (DASC) is held annually. The 2007 Symposium is scheduled for Sept. 25-27, 2007, at Loyola College Graduate Center in Columbia, Maryland.
The International Conference on Computer Safety, Reliability and Security (SAFECOMP) is an annual event covering the state of the art, experience and new trends in the areas of computer safety, reliability and security regarding dependable application of computer systems. SAFECOMP provides ample opportunity to exchange insights and experience on emerging methods and practical applications across the borders of different disciplines. The 2007 SAFECOMP is scheduled for Sept. 18-21, 2007, in Nuremburg, Germany.13
Safeware System Safety for Software-Intensive Systems
Safeware Corporation offers a one-week class covering fundamental concepts and techniques in building and ensuring safety, with particular emphasis on those aspects of complex systems not handled well by traditional system safety approaches, such as software and human-computer interaction.14
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