Consortium on Systems Approaches to Safety and Security (C-SASS)

The increasingly complex systems we are building today enable us to accomplish tasks that were previously difficult or impossible. At the same time, they have changed the nature of accidents and security incidents and increased the potential to harm not only life today but also future generations.

Traditional system safety approaches, which started in the missile defense systems of the 1950s, are being challenged by the introduction of new technology and the increasing complexity of the systems we are attempting to build. Software is changing the causes of accidents and the humans operating these systems have a much more difficult job than simply following predefined procedures. We can no longer effectively separate engineering design from human factors and from the social and organizational system in which technological systems are designed and operated.

The analogous problems are occurring with approaches to security, which have been based on the same linear, reductionist thinking as have approaches to safety.
A potential solution is to take a systems approach to safety and security and apply systems thinking as outlined in Leveson’s 2012 book Engineering a Safer World. The goal of the Consortium on Systems Approaches to Safety and Security is to create new tools and processes that implement this systems thinking approach.
Engineering safer systems will require multi-disciplinary and collaborative research based on sound system engineering principles. The consortium is cross-industry and cross-disciplinary. Recent or current research projects by students and faculty involved in the consortium have examined aviation (aircraft and air transportation systems), spacecraft, medical devices and healthcare, automobiles, railroads, nuclear power, defense systems, energy, and large manufacturing/process facilities (such as oil and gas). Cross-disciplinary topics include:

(*) New, more powerful hazard and vulnerability analysis techniques
(*) Accident investigation and causality analysis
(*) Security
(*) Safety and security guided system design (Design for Safety and Security)
(*) Human factors and safety/security
(*) Integrating safety and security into the system engineering process
(*) Identifying leading indicators of increasing risk
(*) Certification, regulation, and standards
(*) The role of culture, social, and legal systems on safety and security
(*) Management and operation of safety-critical and security-critical systems

The consortium will also provide classes for industry and continuing education in system safety and security.