The Dependable and Intelligent Systems Research Group at the University of Hull is presently pioneering the development of novel methods and tools for dependability analysis and optimisation of complex safety critical engineering systems collectively known as Hierarchically Performed Hazard Origin and Propagation Studies (HiP-HOPS). Important contributions of HiP-HOPS to the field of dependability so far include: Novel algorithms for top-down semi-automatic allocation of safety requirements in t