The Safety Case

The Safety Case is a key document.


The chapters are fixed and has to be organized as showed above.

Interpretation

The Safety Case should be written as a logic proof - like a mathematical proof from math courses at the high-school.
When the experienced colleague reads the Safety Case he or she should be nodding and saying: "Of course".

Part 2, 3 and 4 shows that a railway product can be considered as safe, if the technical safety is adequate AND the quality and safety management is adequate too.

It can be compared with two eggs from the super market. One egg is from an organic hen and one egg is from a battery hen. When you look at the two eggs they look the same. The egg shell can be compared with the Technical safety - the egg shell protects the egg. But nobody can tell how the eggs were brought into existence: Did the hen eat organic corns or spouted corns etc. - the feeding and living of the hens can be compared to the quality and safety management.

The technical safety is demonstrated by referring to the validation test reports and e.g. a requirement matrix, showing that each safety requirement has been tested.

The quality management can often be proved by referring to the general quality system of the company. It concerns subjects like e.g. document configuration systems, internal audits etc.

The safety management can be proved by e.g.
- Referring to minutes of meeting from safety management meetings listed in the safety plan.
- Reference to the minutes of meeting from a hazard workshop stating dates, participants etc.
- Referring to important decision e.g. the day the top manager declared that a safety issue could be postponed.

The conclusion in part 6 should be a short statement: Hereby, it is proved that the product is safe.

Next chapter >> 4.1 Configuration Management

Focus on the source (EN 50129:2003)

See "Quick Guide to Safety Management"