FUNCTIONAL SAFETY GLOSSARY
Citation-friendly definitions for HARA, TARA, ASIL, safety goals, traceability, safety cases, and regulated engineering workflows.
Use this glossary as a practical reference for functional safety and cybersecurity terms used in ISO 26262, ISO/SAE 21434, IEC 61508, IEC 61511, and related safety engineering workflows.
Functional Safety Hub
See how HARA, FMEA, FMEDA, FTA, safety goals, requirements, reviews, and evidence connect in one workflow.
Start with HARA
Learn the ISO 26262 workflow from item definition to hazardous events, ASIL, safety goals, and traceability.
Move into TARA
Follow the ISO/SAE 21434 flow from assets and damage scenarios to threats, risk treatment, and cybersecurity goals.
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HARA
HARA, or Hazard Analysis and Risk Assessment, is the ISO 26262 activity used to identify hazardous events, evaluate severity, exposure, and controllability, derive ASIL, and define safety goals.
TARA
TARA, or Threat Analysis and Risk Assessment, is the ISO/SAE 21434 workflow for identifying assets, damage scenarios, threat scenarios, attack feasibility, impact, risk treatment, and cybersecurity goals.
ASIL
ASIL, or Automotive Safety Integrity Level, is the ISO 26262 risk classification derived from severity, exposure, and controllability ratings for a hazardous event.
SIL
SIL, or Safety Integrity Level, is a target level of risk reduction used in functional safety standards such as IEC 61508 and IEC 61511.
FMEA
FMEA, or Failure Modes and Effects Analysis, is a structured method for identifying failure modes, their effects, causes, controls, and risk priorities.
FMEDA
FMEDA, or Failure Modes, Effects, and Diagnostic Analysis, extends FMEA by evaluating diagnostic coverage and failure rates for safety-relevant hardware or systems.
FTA
FTA, or Fault Tree Analysis, is a top-down safety analysis method that models how combinations of faults can lead to an undesired top event.
SOTIF
SOTIF, or Safety of the Intended Functionality, addresses hazards that arise from performance limitations or reasonably foreseeable misuse rather than system faults.
Safety Goal
A safety goal is a top-level safety requirement derived from HARA that defines the safety intent needed to avoid or mitigate an unreasonable risk.
Safety Requirement
A safety requirement specifies a safety-related obligation derived from safety goals, concepts, architecture, or analysis results.
Safety Case
A safety case is a structured argument, supported by evidence, that a system is acceptably safe for its intended use and operating context.
Item Definition
An item definition describes the function, boundaries, interfaces, assumptions, operating modes, and context of the automotive item being analyzed.
Functional Safety Concept
A functional safety concept defines functional safety requirements and preliminary safety measures needed to satisfy safety goals.
Technical Safety Concept
A technical safety concept refines functional safety requirements into technical safety requirements allocated to system elements.
Traceability Matrix
A traceability matrix maps relationships between hazards, threats, goals, requirements, controls, tests, evidence, reviews, and work products.
Confirmation Review
A confirmation review is an independent review activity used in ISO 26262 to evaluate whether selected work products meet their objectives.