Safety Lifecycle

The safety lifecycle is the framework ISO 26262 defines for managing functional safety across the entire life of an automotive product. It spans the concept phase (item definition, HARA, safety goals, functional safety concept), product development at the system, hardware, and software levels, production, operation, service, and finally decommissioning. Part 2 of the standard anchors the lifecycle in the management of functional safety: each phase has defined activities, work products, and responsibilities, and safety management continues after release. The point is that safety is not a development-time property - it must be planned, achieved, and then maintained until the product leaves service.

Four broad groups. The concept phase establishes what the item is and what safety requires of it. Product development runs the V-model across Parts 4, 5, and 6 - system, hardware, and software - down the left side into implementation and back up through integration, verification, and validation. Production and operation covers Part 7: manufacturing control, service, and field monitoring after start of production. Decommissioning closes the lifecycle with safe deactivation and disposal at end of life.

The V-model is the shape of the product development portion of the lifecycle. Requirements and designs are refined down the left leg - safety goals to functional safety concept to technical safety concept to hardware and software requirements - and each level is verified against its specification up the right leg, ending in safety validation at vehicle level. The lifecycle wraps around the V: the concept phase feeds its top-left corner, and production, operation, and decommissioning follow its top-right corner.

Tailoring means adapting the lifecycle activities to the actual project instead of executing every clause mechanically. ISO 26262 allows activities to be tailored, combined, or omitted with rationale - for example on a variant of an existing item, a distributed development, or a proven platform. Good tailoring is planned in the safety plan, justified, and reviewed; bad tailoring is silent omission discovered in an assessment. Understanding what each phase is for is the prerequisite for defensible tailoring decisions.

The guide is organized into 5 chapters following the lifecycle: concept phase planning, the product development V-model across Parts 4 to 6, production and operation, decommissioning, and a chapter on lifecycle management tools. This module is under active development, with lifecycle planning templates, phase-gate checklists, and progress tracking tools on its roadmap. A free account starts you off, and the Pro and Expert plans unlock more of the concept library.