Systems and methods for hazards analysis

1. A computer-implemented method of hazards analysis, comprising:

displaying menus enabling user selection of a plurality of hazards analysis elements;

receiving a plurality of hazards analysis elements and properties of the hazards analysis elements;

displaying the hazards analysis elements and relationships therebetween using a hazard-cause-mitigation tree;

building a functional block diagram representation of a system on which hazard analysis is to be performed using a Unified Modeling Language system specification, the hazards analysis elements and the properties of the hazards analysis elements;

using the functional block diagrams, the hazard-cause-mitigation tree, and fault tree analysis to determine causes of hazards.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the hazards analysis elements comprise hazards, causes and mitigations.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein fault tree analysis is used to evaluate the probability of a hazards event using analytical or statistical methods.

4. A system comprising a program storage device readable by a computer, tangibly embodying a non-transitory program of instructions executable by the computer to perform the method steps for performing a hazards analysis, the method comprising the steps of:

providing a Unified Modeling Language (UML) specification of a system to be analyzed for hazards, said UML specification including a hazard link for providing hazard analysis;

building functional block diagrams using the UML specification of the system to be analyzed;

receiving user-input hazards analysis elements and building a hazard-cause-mitigation tree from the hazards analysis elements; and

using the functional block diagrams, the hazard-cause-mitigation tree and fault tree analysis for hazards analysis.

5. The system of claim 4 , wherein the user-input hazards analysis elements comprise hazards, causes and mitigations.

6. The system of claim 4 , wherein the method further comprises generating a graphical user interface that allows a user to input the hazards analysis elements.

7. The system of claim 6 , wherein the graphical user interface includes

a first dialog box that allows the user to input hazard information,

a second dialog box that allows the user to input cause information, and

a third dialog box that allows the user to input mitigation information.

8. The system of claim 6 , wherein the graphical user interface comprises a first viewer for graphically displaying hazards analysis elements and relationships therebetween.

9. The system of claim 8 , wherein the graphical user interface further comprises a first graphical editor for building functional block diagrams using a plurality of user interface components.

10. The system of claim 8 , wherein the graphical user interface further comprises a second graphical editor for building a fault tree for use in fault tree analysis.

11. The system of claim 8 , wherein the graphical user interface further comprises a third graphical editor for editing Unified Modeling Language (UML) use case diagrams for the inclusion of hazards to link hazards to system requirements.

12. The system of claim 9 , wherein the user interface components comprise at least one of a display terminal, a keyboard, or a pointing device.

13. The system of claim 4 , wherein the method further comprises generating reports based on results of hazards analysis.

14. The system of claim 13 , wherein the reports include a spreadsheet that lists hazard information, cause information and mitigation information.

15. A system comprising a program storage device readable by a computer, tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by the computer to implement a system for providing a graphical user interface for implementing hazards analysis, the graphical user interface comprising:

a plurality of user interface components for entering hazards analysis elements;

a first viewer for graphically displaying hazards analysis elements and relationships therebetween;

a first graphical editor for building functional block diagrams using the interface components;

a second graphical editor for building a fault tree for use in fault tree analysis; and

a third graphical editor for editing Unified Modeling Language (UML) use case diagrams for the inclusion of hazards to link hazards to system requirements.

16. The system of claim 15 , wherein the user interface components comprise at least one of a display terminal, a keyboard, or a pointing device.

17. The system of claim 15 , wherein the hazards analysis elements comprise hazards, causes and mitigations.

18. The system of claim 15 , wherein fault analysis is used to evaluate the probability of a hazards event using analytical or statistical methods.

19. The system of claim 15 , further comprising a report generator for generating reports based on results of hazards analysis.

20. The system of claim 19 , wherein the report generator generates a spreadsheet that lists hazard information, cause information and mitigation information.