I'm retired and living off my dividends. The safety of my dividends is the most important thing.
I screen for companies that pass all of the following requirements:
Number of years of consecutive dividend raises
I use David Fish's lists of Dividend Champions, Contenders, and Challengers ((CCC)), currently maintained by Justin Law. The current list is available here, and historical versions are available here.
I screen for companies that have raised their dividend for 15 years or more in a row to make sure that they did not cut their dividend during 2008/2009.