System Safety and STPA
As systems have become more complex over the last decade, system safety approaches have evolved to keep pace. This System Safety and STPA course is designed to equip professionals with the knowledge and tools to tackle safety challenges in all industries including aerospace, automotive, nuclear power, energy, and more. I’ve adapted the same teaching materials I use at MIT to provide professionals with high-quality, real-world education.
You’ll begin with the foundations of modern system safety engineering and the paradigm change that has happened over the last decade. You'll learn the difference between component failure accidents and component interaction accidents, how to model intended functions that lead to accidents without functional failures, and modern pitfalls (and strengths) of solutions like probability and redundancy. Real-world accidents will be studied to understand the challenges and gaps that enabled the causes to be overlooked. Accident causality models and the assumptions that underlie modern system safety efforts will be explored, including the chain-of-events model and STAMP (System-Theoretic Accident Model and Processes).
From there, you’ll dive deep into STPA (System-Theoretic Process Analysis), a popular modern hazard analysis method that models complex automation and human interactions to challenge assumptions and generate new insights. Through a combination of theory and practical application, you’ll learn how to apply STPA to real-world scenarios, gaining hands-on experience to help you identify and mitigate risks on your applications.
Whether you're an engineer, operator, manager, or decision-maker looking to expand your knowledge and skill, this course will provide you with the cutting-edge insights needed to develop safer systems and strengthen compliance with industry standards. The class does not assume any specific prior knowledge. Join us and gain the expertise to lead the future of system safety.
Curriculum
The live class will be taught over eight virtual sessions in November, each lasting four hours. This is not a class of pre-recorded videos; you will join live sessions through Zoom virtual meetings. Recorded videos of the sessions will be available for enrolled participants to refer back to.
Dates: From 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Eastern time (UTC-5) on November 4th, 6th , 8th, 13th, 15th, 18th, 20th, 22nd.
For detailed information, preview the agenda, syllabus, and sample videos below.
If you have trouble enrolling, email [email protected]
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is this course designed for?
This course is ideal for engineers, regulators, safety professionals, system integrators, operators, and managers in industries such as aerospace, automotive, healthcare, energy, and more, who want to advance their knowledge of modern safety techniques.
How will follow-up questions in class be handled?
Questions and interaction are important for learning. Participants are encouraged to ask questions in the live chat at any time. The instructor will respond either live or during breaks. After each class session, the instructor will keep the meeting open to check for any lingering questions or discussion points, similar to how an instructor might stay behind in a physical classroom to address questions from students. Several sessions are dedicated to hands-on exercises, providing additional time for questions and feedback. The goal is to help participants identify any stumbling blocks and ask new questions as they apply the techniques learned in class.
How is this different from other system safety classes available?
Most classes focus on following the steps in a process, and many rely on traditional techniques that have been around for decades. In this course, we go deeper. We’ll explore the foundations of both traditional and modern safety approaches, including their pitfalls, often overlooked assumptions, and how to adapt to handle new technologies such as autonomy. You’ll learn about the gaps and limitations in widely used industry standards and examine real accidents that occurred, in part, because of those gaps. You'll also learn how to identify and avoid unsafe systems that may appear fully compliant and reliable. You’ll get hands-on experience applying what you’ve learned to real systems, comparing your results with those produced by experts in the past. By the end, you'll gain a deep understanding of modern system safety and how to avoid common pitfalls in safety practices.
Do I need any prior experience with system safety?
While prior experience with system safety is helpful, it’s not required. The course covers foundational principles and progresses quickly to advanced safety analysis methods, making it suitable for both beginners and experienced professionals.
Who is the instructor?
Professionals from leading organizations have already benefited from taking the STPA class:
What do people say after taking the class?
Addressing real gaps
"One of the biggest takeaways from this class was understanding how automation could introduce risk in ways we wouldn't consider in our current process. It was eye opening to see the cases where automation was unsafe without any failure. This class gave us clarity about where to improve and how to do so."
-- Senior safety engineer
Learning by doing
"For me, having already attempted to apply STPA on Google systems earlier this year, the class was very useful to understand how to think using STAMP and the foundations that were covered early on in the class. The real world examples are also helpful; it's easy to see why STPA is being adopted by software companies."
-- Google software engineer
Building confidence
"I've been in industry for one month and I feel very comfortable with everything we've done in class. The lessons are both intuitive and surprising at the same time."
-- New safety practitioner
Comments from professionals
"The most useful part for me was the comparison of results from different analysis techniques on a real control system. I was unconvinced at the start of the class, but walking through the real-life examples and results really helped me see the limitations of our current approach."
"The case studies brought the concepts to life. Seeing examples from different industries opened my eyes to these patterns and gave me a deeper understanding that I hadn’t noticed before."