What is Root Cause Analysis?

It often gets tough to solve some serious problems. Having an understanding of root cause analysis will not only help you find the cause of problem but also make it easier to solve. There are various benefits of using root cause analysis and it can surely help make your life easier.

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What is Root Cause Analysis?

Most of the problems that happen in our lives are easy to solve. It is because they have a known cause. For example, if something is burnt while cooking, we will know that the cause is either over temperature or more time for cooking than needed. The same is the case with the medial issues. All the medical issues come with symptoms that make treating them fairly easy.

But what if some problem happens without a known cause, then it will be very difficult to solve. This is what happens at work. In a business, most of the problems occur without any visible cause. This is because they are not the consequence of a single event most of the time. So, to solve these problems different techniques are used.

One of them is Root Cause Analysis. If you are wondering what is Root Cause Analysis, then we will tell you all about what is Root Cause Analysis and how you are using it.

What is Root Cause Analysis?

No problem in this world is caused without an issue in this world and it is very important to know the cause of the problem for solving it. Root Cause Analysis is a technique that helps us to identify the main reason behind the problem. This is a complete process that is conducted by a team that checks every detail about the problem then a solution is provided.


This team uses a wide range of approaches and tools to get to the root of the problem. As the main goal of this technique of problem-solving is to get to the root of the problem, that is why it is called Root Cause Analysis.

How Root Cause Analysis works?

Root Cause Analysis is not a process that works on a single methodology or a single technique. It works on a lot of different factors. Here we will discuss each of them.

Events analysis.

This is a technique that is used for the problems that seem to be related to an event. For example, if some machinery stops working due to an event that happened, then this method of Root Cause Analysis will be used. Here a timeline is created that helps in monitoring things in the form of step by step timeline.

As each step is investigated, it gets very easy to get to the root of the problem. Other than ease, this method also provides quick and correct results because it uses a proper timeline for the Root Cause Analysis.

Change analysis.

This method of Root Cause Analysis refers to a situation that is not related to a single event or a factor, but a lot of factors can be included. The involvement of a lot of factors can be the reason for a change in the performance of the system.

To know about the roots of the problems caused by the change in performance, this way of Root Cause Analysis is used. The main things that are investigated for a change in this method are listed below.

• People(could be employees and stakeholders).

• Equipment.

• Any factors that may have contributed to the change in performance according to the system.

• Information and rules.

Barrier analysis.

This method of Root Cause Analysis works by the identification of the barriers in a system, the barriers can be considered for both ways. For example, the barriers that have failed for preventing a significant event in the system or the barriers that have prevented a significant event from happening.

As the barriers are affecting the events in the system, getting to their root can be very helpful in solving the problem.

Risk tree analysis.

Risk tree analysis is a way of checking all the events that have happened related to the problem, their consequences, and why they happened. For the analysis, a tree diagram is used that provides a lot of information about the relating events and their effect on other events.

Getting to know about the different events and their effects on your desired events makes it very easy for the Root Cause Analysis team to get to the problem caused.

Decision-making and Problem-solving.

This is a method of Root Cause Analysis that includes analysis on several things, this analysis is done in a step by step method to keep track of things and how the system is reacting to different events. The steps included in this method are listed below.

1. Situation analysis.

2. Problem analysis.

3. Solution analysis.

4. Potential problem analysis.

When all these analyses are done in a step by step method, it gets very easy to get to the root of the problem and provide an efficient solution.

How to implement or conduct Root Cause Analysis?

As it is important to know what is Root Cause Analysis, it is also important to know how it works and how you can benefit from it. Here we will discuss how you can implement the Root Cause Analysis methods for getting to the roots of any problem to be able to solve it. The step by step guide is elaborated below.

1. Team making.

The first step in the process of Root Cause Analysis is to decide to make a team. When the decision is made, a team of different members is designed. The number of members in the team depends on the complexity and scale of the problem.

Although the team members can be selected from inside the company or outside, it is still very important that the team members must be related to the field of the problem. This will mean that they have had some experience related to the problem that will help them in the following things.

• They will have a better understanding of the problem.

• They will have better ideas about solving the problem.

• They will be efficient in solving the problem because they will be aware of all the possible consequences.

After the team of different members is made, it is time to move to the next step.

2. Analyzing the problem.

This is the step that is conducted for at least 2 months if the problem is not solved. Here the team members work on the problem by understanding the problem and thinking and brainstorming about all the possible ideas and solutions.

However, the whole team is working on the problem, the whole team must meet regularly to share their analysis and solutions and ideas.in this step, one member of the team is specially assigned the task to keep track of the team’s success towards the analysis of the problem

3. Implementing the solution.

This is the last step and it includes the implementation of the decision that was made by the team at the end of the previous step. However, the team is not dismissed because it takes several months for monitoring the efficiency of the solutions implemented.

What are the objectives of Root Cause Analysis?

For a person who knows what is Root Cause Analysis, it is also very important that he knows about the objectives of the Root Cause Analysis. This is because when you know about the objectives of Root Cause Analysis, you will be able to efficiently implement the methods and techniques of Root Cause Analysis.

So, here we will discuss all the objectives of Root Cause Analysis.

Discovering the problem.

The first objective of Root Cause Analysis when it is implemented is to discover the problem. It is because the problem cannot be tolerated. Because it will be affecting a lot of things in the system. So, the discovery of the main problem and its cause is very important.

Understanding the problem.

The second objective means to understand the problem and its cause. Here understanding means that a problem is not always caused because of one cause. So, it is very important to understand the problem in detail to get to all the causes. This is what makes Root Cause Analysis very efficient.

Apply solutions in a way that prevents future problems.

The last objective is to implement the solution in a way where it will not have bad effects in the future. Many problem-solving methods ignore this, but Root Cause Analysis pays significant attention to this detail. This is because it will decide the effectiveness and efficiency of the implemented solution in the future.

What are the benefits of Root Cause Analysis?

If you came here to know what is Root Cause Analysis, you will be amazed to know some of its benefits. So, here we have some benefits of implementing Root Cause Analysis for problem-solving.

• Teamwork provides quick, efficient, and easy solutions.

• Different ideas can be analyzed and implemented.

• A great tool for making any company successful by preventing future problems.

These were some benefits of Root Cause Analysis that everyone can enjoy.

Conclusion.

With the increasing number of different types of complex problems, it has become very important to know about some effective problem-solving techniques. Root Cause Analysis is one of the best problem-solving techniques that can help in solving any kind of problem. That is why here we elaborated all about what is Root Cause Analysis, its implementation, objectives, benefits, and working.

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