What is a Safety Certificate or Safety Case?

• A. A certificate proving training completion
• B. A warranty document
• C. Documentation showing that the system complies with safety requirements and has been verified and validated; risk reduction evidence.
• D. A blueprint of robot hardware

Answer: (C)

A Safety Certificate or Safety Case is a formal, structured argument that a robot system is safe to operate for its intended use, backed by evidence. It’s not just a document of what was built or how to operate it; it ties every safety requirement to real design choices and to concrete verification and validation results. In practice, it shows how hazards were identified, how risks were assessed, and what mitigations were put in place to reduce those risks to an acceptable level. The Safety Case includes details like the safety goals and functions, the system architecture (hardware and software), and the evidence from tests, analyses, and demonstrations that those safety measures work as claimed. It also covers how changes are managed and how maintenance affects safety over the system’s life. Standards and regulations are referenced to show alignment and justify the risk reduction achieved. This is why it best fits the idea of a Safety Certificate or Safety Case: it is the running, evidence-backed justification that the system meets safety requirements, rather than a certificate of training, a warranty, or a hardware blueprint.