Electromagnetic Hazard Analysis Technique based on System-Theoretic Process Analysis

This paper presents a hazard analysis methodology based on systems thinking to address electromagnetic interference risks in complex systems. The proposed methodology extends the recently proposed hazard analysis technique System-Theoretic Process Analysis to include electromagnetic interference (EMI) hazards. This technique involves analysing the control structure of the system to identify potentially unsafe control actions. This paper focuses on investigating how these actions can potentially arise due to the system’s interaction with its electromagnetic environment. Finally, the reasons why such unsafe interactions might occur are analysed, leading to the EMI loss scenarios. The proposed technique is applied to the use case of an insulin infusion pump to show its ability to identify new EMI hazardous scenarios. The traceability property of the proposed analysis technique allows the prioritisation of EMI scenarios that might lead to the most critical losses.