Supporting Processes
ISO 26262-8: The organizational and technical backbone enabling compliant safety development
What You'll Learn
Build complete competency in supporting processes through structured, progressive learning.
Establish CM system
Design and implement a configuration management system that satisfies ISO 26262-8 requirements
Qualify development tools
Determine tool confidence levels and apply appropriate qualification methods for all safety tools
Ensure verification independence
Demonstrate the required levels of independence for all safety-critical verification activities
Manage changes safely
Execute structured change management with full impact analysis and re-verification scoping
Prove team competence
Document and demonstrate competence of all personnel performing safety-relevant tasks
Pass process audits
Prepare supporting-process evidence packages that satisfy independent assessor requirements
13 Comprehensive Chapters
Each chapter builds your supporting processes expertise systematically from foundations to advanced application.
Overview of Supporting Processes
Introduce the supporting processes defined in ISO 26262-8 and explain how they underpin every safety development activity.
Configuration Management
Establish and maintain a configuration management system that ensures reproducibility and traceability of all safety work products.
Change Management
Manage changes to safety-relevant items systematically, including impact analysis, re-verification scope, and documentation updates.
Documentation Management
Define documentation plans, naming conventions, review cycles, and archiving strategies for all ISO 26262 work products.
Problem Resolution
Implement a structured problem resolution process to capture, analyze, and close safety-relevant anomalies and field issues.
Verification Independence
Define appropriate levels of independence for verification activities based on ASIL and demonstrate compliance in work products.
Software Tool Qualification
Qualify software development and verification tools using the ISO 26262-8 framework, covering TCL determination and qualification methods.
Competence Management
Define and demonstrate competence requirements for personnel performing safety activities across all development phases.
Baseline Management
Establish formal baselines at key development milestones to freeze approved configurations for verification and release.
ALM Integration
Integrate supporting processes with Application Lifecycle Management tools such as DOORS, Jira, and Polarion for full traceability.
Process Tailoring
Understand when and how to tailor supporting processes for specific project contexts while maintaining ISO 26262 compliance.
Practical Checklists
Apply ready-to-use checklists for each supporting process area to verify completeness during internal audits and assessments.
Case Study
Walk through a complete supporting-process implementation at a Tier-1 supplier developing an ASIL D braking control module.
6 Supporting Process Diagrams
Experiment with visual tools that bring supporting processes concepts to life.
Process Interaction Map
Diagram showing the interactions and dependencies between all ISO 26262-8 supporting processes across the safety lifecycle
CM Baseline Lifecycle
State machine diagram for configuration management baselines from draft through approved to released status
Tool Qualification Decision Tree
Decision flow for determining Tool Confidence Level and appropriate qualification method for development tools
Independence Level Matrix
Matrix diagram mapping ASIL levels to required independence levels I1, I2, I3 for verification activities
Change Management Flow
End-to-end flow diagram for change requests including impact analysis, approval gates, and re-verification scope
Problem Resolution Process
Timeline-based process diagram for problem reports from detection through root-cause analysis to verified closure
Supporting Processes for an ASIL D Brake Controller
A Tier-1 supplier implementing supporting processes for an ASIL D electronic brake controller discovered 23 gaps during an internal audit. Systematic remediation of CM, tool qualification, and competence records reduced assessment findings by 85%.
- Implemented DOORS-based traceability covering 1,200 requirements with bidirectional links
- Qualified 11 software tools using TCL/TQL framework, 4 at TQL-4 level
- Established competence matrix for 34 engineers with gap training program
- Zero major findings during third-party ISO 26262 assessment
Supporting Process Checklist
Master ISO 26262 Supporting Processes
Build the organizational backbone that enables rigorous functional safety compliance across all development phases
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