System Safety
Contact person
System-thinking is becoming increasingly important in the energy sector, healthcare sector, land-based industry, and transportation sector, which are rapidly adopting new technology and AI. We believe that system knowledge and holistic understanding will increasingly contribute to maintaining the functionality of important control, communication, and safety solutions in these areas over time.
Our expertise
The research group possesses interdisciplinary expertise in telecommunications, quality, maintenance, and risk management. System Safety works with safety in complex, societally critical systems. We have strong domain knowledge of the railway sector and significant experience with safety assessments in both the railway and energy sectors.
The group has broad experience in interpreting regulations and assessing customer compliance with safety requirements. Staff members have expertise in the evaluation and approval of safety-critical solutions, including roles such as Independent Safety Assessor (ISA), Notified Body (NoBo), Designated Body (DeBo), and Assessment Body (AsBo).
The group possesses expertise in analysing the relationship between safety and cybersecurity through understanding how cybersecurity threats can affect important safety functions.
Some members of the group also have extensive experience with independent investigations and learning from unwanted incidents in industry and transport.
In addition to the above, the group works with new challenges related to digitalization, automation, and the use of artificial intelligence, including testing language models (LLM) in safety-critical applications.
How we work
At System Safety, we combine various engineering disciplines to generate new knowledge and solutions in collaboration with industry, society, and regulatory authorities.
We leverage domain knowledge and networks, especially within the railway industry and regulatory authorities, to generate new knowledge through projects and research. This involves interdisciplinary work with experts in safety management, software and OT, communication systems, human factors, operations, and maintenance. In addition, our collaboration with regulatory authorities and knowledge of regulatory requirements are essential to our system-safety approach.
What sets us apart?
The System Safety research group stands out by combining research expertise with an understanding of regulations and operational experience with safety-critical systems and infrastructure.
We view system safety more clearly from a lifecycle perspective, from design and implementation to operation, change, and decommissioning.
We have a unique combination of domain knowledge within railways, in addition to interdisciplinary expertise in telecommunications, safety management, and cybersecurity.
We establish strong connections between research and practical application by working collaboratively with industry partners and regulatory bodies, and we design methods that are applicable to complex and safety-critical systems.
Through the certification activities, we have developed an understanding of the interplay between technological development, regulations, and the operational needs faced by organizations.
Strategic Initiatives:
- Further develop the field of system safety in response to new technology, autonomous systems, new energy forms (batteries, etc.), and the use of AI. Our approach is methods for holistic system safety, with a particular focus on value chains with dependencies and complexity.
- Integration of cybersecurity and functional safety in joint analyses and methodology, based on established international standards and guidelines, is an important part of this.
An international environment
The research group participates in several research and innovation projects, including some funded by the EU. We collaborate with leading research communities, authorities, and industry partners in Europe within system safety, risk management and cybersecurity. Focus is on effects of increased digitalization of critical infrastructure.
Members of the research group have extensive experience with independent safety assessments in large European projects. Of particular interest is the rollout of the new digitized signalling system for railways in Europe and the Nordic countries.
Through international collaboration, we ensure that our research is relevant, up-to-date, and closely linked to the development of future safety-critical systems.
Some highlights
How we can help you
- Method development within system safety and modelling.
- Studies of safety-critical systems, "Impact" analyses.
- Regulatory development in line with new technology and digitalization.
- Studies of value chains in organizations.
- Independent safety assessments.
- Research and innovation in system engineering, strategic advice, and assignments.
- Courses in the development of safety documentation according to requirements in safety regulations/standards.
Would you like to collaborate with us?
We are always open to new collaboration opportunities. Contact us, and we will find out whether our expertise can meet your needs in a research and/or innovation project, assignment, or strategic advice. We can also offer courses and practical guidance in relevant regulations within area of safety- and quality management.
Caption header image: Shutterstock