Definition:
Systematic Failures are failures related to design, implementation, or management errors rather than random hardware faults. This is often a software failure. This is tied with the concept of systematic compatibility and route “S”.
Key Points:
- Must be addressed through processes like FSM and quality assurance.
- Different from random failures that are statistically modeled.
- Much of IEC 61508 is focused on removing these.
- Can be eliminated after detection by changing design.
- A proof test would not generally find these types of failures.
Example:
A software bug causing all sensors to report wrong values is a systematic failure.
See also: Systematic Capability, Random Failures
Cited Source:
- IEC 61508-4:2010, Clause 3.6.9.