Conducting a root cause analysis (RCA) is an essentialproblem-solving method used to isolate and identify concerns.RCA goes beyond simple cause and effect to identify failure points in a process or system.
However, some companies skip steps in the RCA process or inadequately perform the process. This leaves them with challenges like limited time to focus on the right things, using the wrong RCA tool, a poor corrective action process and ineffective training.
To perform an RCA correctly there are essential steps that must be taken. First, let’s look at common types of root causes that most companies must deal with.
Types of Root Causes
RCA analyzes and identifies multiple types of root causes. There are three common types that can cause failures including:
Physical Causes:A physical cause is when a tangible item fails. For example, if an MRI machine at a hospital stops working and prevents a patient from receiving the proper health care, this is a physical root cause.
Human Causes:This type of root cause is when one person or several team members does something incorrectly. Human error will often lead to a physical cause, e.g., a hospital’s quality management team didn’t perform an MRI machine’s scheduled inspection, which caused it to fail.
Organizational Causes:An organizational root cause is when a system or process that an organization uses to do its jobs is faulty. For example, if a hospital’s quality control department mistakenly thought it was the patient safety department’s responsibility to inspect the MRI machine and nobody corrected them, this is an organizational root cause.
How to Perform a Root Cause Analysis in 5 Steps
To go through theRCA process effectively, follow the five steps below:
1. Define the Problem
Analyze what you see happening and identify the precise symptoms to form a problem statement.
2. Gather Data
Before you can move on to identifying the underlying problems, you must collect and evaluate all aspects of the situation. Performing a case study, incident investigation or accident analysis are a few common ways to accomplish this step.
3. Identify Causal Factors
Now with your data in hand, it’s time to look for as many causal factors as possible that could have led to your problem.
4. Determine the Root Cause(s)
Use root cause analysis methods,which we’ll outline below, to discover the root causes of each causal factor.
5. Recommend and Implement Solutions
Once you know the root cause, you can recommend preventive action to ensure the problem never happens again and then develop a timeline and plan for implementing your solution.
Popular Root Cause Analysis Methods
The goal of RCA is to recognize all the underlying causes of a problem. Using an analysis method is a useful tool to accomplish this task. Some popular root cause analysis methods are:
The Five Whys:This is a problem-solving strategy that consists of asking “Why did this problem happen?” and then following the answer up with a series of additional “But why?” questions until you get to the root cause of the problem.
Change Analysis:This method meticulously examines all the changes leading up to an event in hopes of discovering risk management strategies. This is particularly useful when there are many possible causes.
Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA):FMEA is one of the first systematic failure analysis methods and is a step-by-step guide for recognizing all potential failures in a product, business process or service. Once you’ve pinpointed eachfailure in a system, you can then assess the effects of those failures one by one.
Get to the Root Cause of the Issue
The RCA tools above can be used to help you spot potential flaws in your solution before they happen.
Resources About Root Cause Analysis:
FAQs
Notably used to identify and analyze 'chronic failures,' which can otherwise be overlooked, this method is defined by its name: PReserving Evidence and Acquiring Data: Initial evidence collection step based on the 5-P's – Parts, Position, People, Paper, and Paradigms.
What are the 5 steps of root cause analysis? ›
What are the 5 Steps of Root Cause Analysis
- Acknowledge the problem. The first thing that must be done is acknowledge the problem. ...
- Collect data and keep a record. ...
- Assess the environment and all possible contributing factors. ...
- Uncover the root cause or causes. ...
- Put corrective or preventative actions in place.
Notably used to identify and analyze 'chronic failures,' which can otherwise be overlooked, this method is defined by its name: PReserving Evidence and Acquiring Data: Initial evidence collection step based on the 5-P's – Parts, Position, People, Paper, and Paradigms.
What are the 5 Whys in root cause analysis? ›
The 5 Whys method is a powerful and straightforward approach to root cause analysis used in various industries worldwide. It focuses on asking why a problem happened and then repeating “Why?” four more times until you find the main cause. Imagine you're running late because your car won't start.
What are the 5 M's of root cause analysis? ›
By looking at the five M's – Man, Machine, Material, Method, and Measurement and one E – Environment, organizations can figure out what's causing the problem and implement the right solutions. This methodology helps organizations improve and keep getting better. “Man” means the people involved in a process or task.
What is the 5 Whys method to identify root causes of incidents? ›
What is the 5 Whys Technique? 5 Whys is an iterative interrogative technique used to explore the cause-and-effect relationships underlying a problem. The goal is to determine the root cause of a problem by repeating the question “Why?”. Each answer forms the basis of the next question.
What are the five ways to determine the root cause? ›
5 Steps to Perform an Effective Root Cause Analysis
- Define the problem. The first step to perform an effective root cause analysis is to define the problem. ...
- Gather data. ...
- Identify possible casual factors. ...
- Determine the root cause(s) ...
- Find and implement solutions.
The 5 "Whys" to be considered during a Root Cause Analysis are option C: Why, Why, Why, Why and Why. This technique involves asking 'Why' multiple times until the underlying cause of a problem is determined. It often requires at least five iterations of asking 'Why' to drill down to the root of the issue.
What is 5 reason analysis? ›
The 5 Whys analysis is a simple but powerful problem-solving method that identifies one or multiple root causes for the same problem by asking “Why?” repeatedly, usually five times.
What is the 5 why rule? ›
The 5 Whys Problem Solving technique is a simple process to follow to solve any problem by repeatedly asking the question “Why” (five times is a good rule of thumb), to peel away the layers of symptoms that can lead to the root cause of a problem. This strategy relates to the principle of systematic problem solving.
Five Whys is used in the "analyze" phase of the Six Sigma DMAIC (define, measure, analyze, improve, control) methodology. The exercise begins with a facilitator stating a problem and then asking the question "Why?" (meaning "Why did the problem occur?"). The group brainstorms answers based on direct observation.
What is the 5 Whys presentation? ›
Title of Presentation. The 5-Whys is a simple brainstorming tool that can help teams identify the root cause(s) of a problem. Once a general problem has been recognized, ask “why” questions to drill down to the root causes.
What is the 5M RCA method? ›
For example, while using the Ishikawa Diagram for the RCA, the team classifies all the probable root causes into the 5M categories as a starting point. These categories are often labeled as Manpower, Material, Method, Machine, Measurement, and Miscellaneous causes.
What are the 6 P's of root cause analysis? ›
Popular categories to theme the contributing causes include 6Ps (Policy, Process, People, Procedure, Program and Product) or 6Ms (Measurement, Materials, Method, Mother Nature, Manpower, Machine).
What are the 4 P's of root cause analysis? ›
Examples of the most frequently chosen domain headers for these “bones” of the “fish” would include the “4Ps” (place, procedure, people, policies), the “4Ms” (methods, machines, materials, manpower), or the “4Ss” (surroundings, suppliers, systems, skills).
What are the Six Sigma steps of a root cause analysis? ›
Root cause analysis is an important part of Six Sigma methodology, as it is a key component of the analysis phase of DMAIC – define, measure, analyze, improve, and control. There are six major tools of root cause analysis, which are used through the process of identifying the root causes of a problem.
What is the RCA process? ›
Overview: RCA is a structured facilitated team process to identify root causes of an event that resulted in an undesired outcome and develop corrective actions. The RCA process provides you with a way to identify breakdowns in processes and systems that contributed to the event and how to prevent future events.
