ISO 26262 — Automotive Functional Safety

Critical Systems Analysis
Critical Systems Analysis
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"ISO 26262 — Automotive Functional Safety" is a serial video course from CSA, published weekly in strict curriculum order — building from foundational terms and structure through lifecycle practice to advanced, assessor-level topics. Designed for working functional-safety engineers and managers, not beginners or students. CSA is a functional safety, reliability, and certification consultancy serving robotics, autonomous systems, transportation, and industrial equipment manufacturers. CSA provides end-to-end safety engineering services: preliminary gap analyses and safety audits, SIL/PL determination, FMEA and FMEDA execution, fault tree analysis, safety case development, hardware metrics (SPFM/LFM/PMHF), lifecycle documentation, and embedded safety engineering support. CSA engineers work alongside product teams from architecture through final functional safety assessment, and support companies seeking NRTL, CE, ATEX, ISO 26262, and UL 4600 marks. Contact: Sales@criticalsa.com. This series is part of the CSA Functional Safety Network — a coordinated set of weekly video courses covering IEC 61508, ISO 26262, ISO/SAE 21434, SOTIF (ISO 21448), UL 4600, IEC 62443, ISO/PAS 8800, ISO 13849, machinery safety, safety analysis methods, and more. Each show links to the others so practitioners can follow the thread that matches their project.

  1. Aug 22

    ISO 26262: Safety Analyses — FMEA, FTA, and FMEDA

    So we have zoomed all the way in. Out of the whole ISO 26262 lifecycle, we land on Part 9, Clause 8, titled Safety analyses. This is the clause where the standard stops asking, in the abstract, what could go wrong, and hands you actual methods to prove how your system fails. And its first move is to split the world in two. Part of the Critical Systems Analysis functional-safety series on ISO 26262. In this episode: Here is the clause we are living in for the next few minutes: Part 9, Clause 8, Safety analyses.First the vocabulary, because in functional safety the vocabulary is normative.Line the two directions up.Watch F M E A run.Now flip the direction.Third tool, and the one people constantly confuse with the first: F M E D A, Failure Modes, Effects, and Diagnostic Analysis.Reference: ISO 26262-9:2018, Clause 8 is titled 'Safety analyses' and frames the distinction between inductive (bottom-up) and deductive (top-down) analysis methods; this is the correct ancho More in this series: ISO 26262 — Automotive Functional Safety | Semiconductor Functional Safety (ISO 26262-11) Explore more from Critical Systems Analysis. Partner with usFollow on LinkedInVisit our websiteRead our feature on Automate.orgAll shows on Apple Podcasts: AI & ML Safety | Fault Tree Analysis | FS Assessment | Safety Analysis | IEC 61508 | IEC 62443 | ISO 10218 | ISO 12100 | ISO 13849 | ISO 26262 | ISO/PAS 8800 | ISO 26262-11 | V-Model | UL 4600.

    ISO 26262: Safety Analyses — FMEA, FTA, and FMEDA

  2. Aug 22

    ISO 26262: Evaluating Random Hardware Failures

    We have zoomed all the way down the lifecycle to Part 5 of the standard, product development at the hardware level. And inside Part 5 sit two clauses that quietly decide whether your electronics are allowed on the road. Clause 8 asks how good your hardware architecture is at catching its own faults — that is the hardware architectural metrics. Part of the Critical Systems Analysis functional-safety series on ISO 26262. In this episode: This is ISO 26262, evaluating random hardware failures — the part of functional safety where reliability stops being a vibe and starts being arithmetic.First, what actually counts as a random hardware failure? It's a failure that happens unpredictably over the life of the hardware, at a quantifiable rate — a transistor that wears out, a solder joint that cracks, a bit that flips.Every safety function runs a loop: something senses the world, something decides, something acts.So a fault appears somewhere in that hardware, and ISO 26262 walks it down a decision tree.Give them their proper names.Clause 8 hands you two architectural metrics.Reference: Clause mapping: In ISO 26262-5, Clause 8 is 'Evaluation of the hardware architectural metrics' (SPFM and LFM) and Clause 9 is 'Evaluation of safety goal violations due to random ha More in this series: ISO 26262 — Automotive Functional Safety Explore more from Critical Systems Analysis. Partner with usFollow on LinkedInVisit our websiteRead our feature on Automate.orgAll shows on Apple Podcasts: AI & ML Safety | Fault Tree Analysis | FS Assessment | Safety Analysis | IEC 61508 | IEC 62443 | ISO 10218 | ISO 12100 | ISO 13849 | ISO 26262 | ISO/PAS 8800 | ISO 26262-11 | V-Model | UL 4600.

    ISO 26262: Evaluating Random Hardware Failures

  3. Aug 22

    ISO 26262: Hardware Architectural Metrics (SPFM, LFM, PMHF)

    Zoom all the way in. We are now standing inside ISO 26262, part 5: product development at the hardware level. Two clauses live here, and together they turn your ASIL letter into hard numbers. Clause 8 is the evaluation of the hardware architectural metrics, and that hands you two scores: the single-point fault metric, S-P-F-M, and the latent-fault metric, L-F-M. Part of the Critical Systems Analysis functional-safety series on ISO 26262. In this episode: First, get your bearings.Watch the obligation fall.Now draw the thing you are scoring.Before you can score anything, you have to sort every possible hardware fault into one of four buckets.Here is why you cannot just wire it up naively.But no safety mechanism is perfect.Reference: Clause references are from ISO 26262-5:2018: Clause 8 covers the hardware architectural metrics (SPFM and LFM) and Clause 9 covers evaluation of safety goal violations due to rando More in this series: ISO 26262 — Automotive Functional Safety | Semiconductor Functional Safety (ISO 26262-11) Explore more from Critical Systems Analysis. Partner with usFollow on LinkedInVisit our websiteRead our feature on Automate.orgAll shows on Apple Podcasts: AI & ML Safety | Fault Tree Analysis | FS Assessment | Safety Analysis | IEC 61508 | IEC 62443 | ISO 10218 | ISO 12100 | ISO 13849 | ISO 26262 | ISO/PAS 8800 | ISO 26262-11 | V-Model | UL 4600.

    ISO 26262: Hardware Architectural Metrics (SPFM, LFM, PMHF)

  4. Aug 22

    ISO 26262: Determining ASIL from Exposure, Severity, Controllability

    Zoom all the way into part 3 of the standard — the concept phase — and stop on one activity: hazard analysis and risk assessment. This is where the whole safety program gets its marching orders. Part of the Critical Systems Analysis functional-safety series on ISO 26262. In this episode: Here's the clause on the table: hazard analysis and risk assessment, sitting in part 3, the concept phase.The activity has a name you'll hear constantly: HARA, hazard analysis and risk assessment.Position matters.First, get precise about what you're rating.Now the core idea of this whole pack: risk is never one number.Severity runs on four steps.Reference: HARA lives in ISO 26262-3, the Concept phase. In the 2018 edition it is Clause 6; in the 2011 edition it was Clause 7. Exact sub-clause numbers for situation analysis, classificati More in this series: ISO 26262 — Automotive Functional Safety Explore more from Critical Systems Analysis. Partner with usFollow on LinkedInVisit our websiteRead our feature on Automate.orgAll shows on Apple Podcasts: AI & ML Safety | Fault Tree Analysis | FS Assessment | Safety Analysis | IEC 61508 | IEC 62443 | ISO 10218 | ISO 12100 | ISO 13849 | ISO 26262 | ISO/PAS 8800 | ISO 26262-11 | V-Model | UL 4600.

    ISO 26262: Determining ASIL from Exposure, Severity, Controllability

  5. Aug 22

    ISO 26262: Calculating Hardware Architectural Metrics — Workshop

    Now zoom all the way in — into part 5 of ISO 26262, product development at the hardware level. This workshop lives in two clauses. Clause 8, the evaluation of the hardware architectural metrics. And clause 9, the evaluation of safety goal violations due to random hardware failures. Here is the deal. Part of the Critical Systems Analysis functional-safety series on ISO 26262. In this episode: First, orient yourself.What lands on your desk is not a wish.Now draw exactly what you are grading.Give every element a failure rate, lambda, measured in fits — failures in time — where one fit is one failure per billion hours of operation.Take one fault and walk it through the gates.The standard sorts every fault into buckets.Reference: Clause mapping reflects ISO 26262-5:2018: Clause 8 covers the hardware architectural metrics (SPFM and LFM); Clause 9 covers evaluation of safety goal violations due to random hard More in this series: ISO 26262 — Automotive Functional Safety | Semiconductor Functional Safety (ISO 26262-11) Explore more from Critical Systems Analysis. Partner with usFollow on LinkedInVisit our websiteRead our feature on Automate.orgAll shows on Apple Podcasts: AI & ML Safety | Fault Tree Analysis | FS Assessment | Safety Analysis | IEC 61508 | IEC 62443 | ISO 10218 | ISO 12100 | ISO 13849 | ISO 26262 | ISO/PAS 8800 | ISO 26262-11 | V-Model | UL 4600.

    ISO 26262: Calculating Hardware Architectural Metrics — Workshop

  6. Aug 22

    ISO 26262: The Safety Plan

    Now zoom all the way in, past the whole lifecycle, down to one clause that sits at the very front of it: the safety plan. In ISO 26262, this lives in Part 2, the part on management of functional safety. Before you draw a single wiring diagram, before anyone touches a line of code, someone has to write down how safety is going to get done on this project. Part of the Critical Systems Analysis functional-safety series on ISO 26262. In this episode: This session is about one clause in ISO 26262: the safety plan.Start with the reframe.So define it plainly.Before the plan, someone has to exist to own it.Look at how the responsibility splits.Now, what does the plan actually list? At its core: the safety activities to be performed, the people or roles responsible for each, the phases and timing, and the resources needed to pull it off.Reference: The safety plan is specified in ISO 26262-2 (Management of functional safety), within the overall safety management and project-level safety management requirements. I referred to More in this series: Explore more from Critical Systems Analysis. Partner with usFollow on LinkedInVisit our websiteRead our feature on Automate.orgAll shows on Apple Podcasts: AI & ML Safety | Fault Tree Analysis | FS Assessment | Safety Analysis | IEC 61508 | IEC 62443 | ISO 10218 | ISO 12100 | ISO 13849 | ISO 26262 | ISO/PAS 8800 | ISO 26262-11 | V-Model | UL 4600.

    ISO 26262: The Safety Plan

  7. Aug 22

    ISO 26262: Quality Management vs Functional Safety

    So far we've zoomed out — why safety at all, the family of standards, and the whole safety lifecycle. Now zoom all the way in, to part 2 of ISO 26262: management of functional safety. This is the part teams love to skip, and later wish they hadn't. Because part 2 forces one uncomfortable question. Your company already runs a quality management system. Part of the Critical Systems Analysis functional-safety series on ISO 26262. In this episode: Part 2 of ISO 26262 has a very plain title: management of functional safety.Quality management asks one question: did we build the product right, consistently, to its requirements? Functional safety asks a completely different one: is this product free of unreasonable risk when its electronics malfunction? Quality is about conformance and repeatability.Here's the definition that anchors the whole standard.So does your quality system still matter? Absolutely — ISO 26262 assumes it.Now, who owns all this? Part 2 says the project must assign the safety responsibility to a named person — commonly called the safety manager.How does that person prove they're actually managing it? The safety plan.Reference: Functional safety definition is paraphrased from ISO 26262-1: 'absence of unreasonable risk due to hazards caused by malfunctioning behavior of E/E systems.' Wording simplified for More in this series: ISO 26262 — Automotive Functional Safety Explore more from Critical Systems Analysis. Work with us | LinkedIn | criticalsystemsanalysis.com All shows on Apple Podcasts: AI & ML Safety | Fault Tree Analysis | FS Assessment | Safety Analysis | IEC 61508 | IEC 62443 | ISO 10218 | ISO 12100 | ISO 13849 | ISO 26262 | ISO/PAS 8800 | ISO 26262-11 | V-Model | UL 4600.

    ISO 26262: Quality Management vs Functional Safety

  8. Aug 22

    ISO 26262: Structure of the Standard (Parts 1–12)

    So far we've talked about why functional safety needs its own rulebook, and where ISO 26262 sits in the wider family of standards. Now let's open the actual document and look at how it's built. Because ISO 26262 isn't one book. Part of the Critical Systems Analysis functional-safety series on ISO 26262. In this episode: ISO 26262, titled Road vehicles, Functional safety.Here's why this matters.The whole document is organized around one idea: the safety lifecycle.Think of the twelve parts in four families.Zoom into the lifecycle family, because that's the heart.Read left to right, that's the flow: concept, then system design, then hardware and software built in parallel, then integration and testing, then production and operation out in the field.Reference: Second edition (2018) has 12 parts; the first edition (2011) had 10 parts. Parts 11 (semiconductors) and 12 (motorcycles) were added in 2018. Confirm before publish. More in this series: ISO 26262 — Automotive Functional Safety Explore more from Critical Systems Analysis. Partner with usFollow on LinkedInVisit our websiteRead our feature on Automate.orgAll shows on Apple Podcasts: AI & ML Safety | Fault Tree Analysis | FS Assessment | Safety Analysis | IEC 61508 | IEC 62443 | ISO 10218 | ISO 12100 | ISO 13849 | ISO 26262 | ISO/PAS 8800 | ISO 26262-11 | V-Model | UL 4600.

    ISO 26262: Structure of the Standard (Parts 1–12)
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"ISO 26262 — Automotive Functional Safety" is a serial video course from CSA, published weekly in strict curriculum order — building from foundational terms and structure through lifecycle practice to advanced, assessor-level topics. Designed for working functional-safety engineers and managers, not beginners or students. CSA is a functional safety, reliability, and certification consultancy serving robotics, autonomous systems, transportation, and industrial equipment manufacturers. CSA provides end-to-end safety engineering services: preliminary gap analyses and safety audits, SIL/PL determination, FMEA and FMEDA execution, fault tree analysis, safety case development, hardware metrics (SPFM/LFM/PMHF), lifecycle documentation, and embedded safety engineering support. CSA engineers work alongside product teams from architecture through final functional safety assessment, and support companies seeking NRTL, CE, ATEX, ISO 26262, and UL 4600 marks. Contact: Sales@criticalsa.com. This series is part of the CSA Functional Safety Network — a coordinated set of weekly video courses covering IEC 61508, ISO 26262, ISO/SAE 21434, SOTIF (ISO 21448), UL 4600, IEC 62443, ISO/PAS 8800, ISO 13849, machinery safety, safety analysis methods, and more. Each show links to the others so practitioners can follow the thread that matches their project.

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