Root Cause Analysis

Root Cause Analysis is a methodical process to identify the root cause or main reasons leading to an event failure or in other terms its refers to identifying the underlying causes leading to the problem.

The main focus of Root Cause Analysis is to investigate & analyze  the problem statement to understand “WHY the event occurred?” rather than “WHO made the error?”. The root cause is typically not simply system issues, it may also occur due to improper maintenance, unclear procedures, unclear change management procedures etc.

The structure of RCA procedure starts with Identifying a problem, analyzing the problem, define the root cause, develop a corrective action, implement changes & monitor the system.

There are various tools & techniques used in Root Cause Analysis procedure, they are:

1. Brainstorming
2. Scatter Diagram
3. RUN Chart
4. Fish-bone Diagram
5. Histogram
6. Control Charts
7. Pareto Charts
8. FMEA – Failure Mode & Effects Analysis