Root Cause Analysis

Safety: Getting Down to the Root of It All

Root Cause Analysis is all about WHAT, WHY and HOW – what happened during an accident, why it occurred, and how it took place. By determining these factors, a company like Cashman can understand the root cause of a safety incident and implement the proper procedures to make sure the risk is minimized or eliminated.

Root Cause Analysis is a four-step process many companies implement. It is currently used at Cashman Equipment.

Step 1: Collect the Data

A team reviews what, when, and how an accident happened, and then begins to explore why. This team includes participants or witnesses, individuals who are experts in certain aspects of the event (maintenance, process, mine, haulage, etc.), and organizational leaders.

Step 2: Create a Timeline of Causal Factors

The team creates a timeline that defines the sequence of events (the causal factors) that led up to the accident. Using this timeline, the investigative team can identify the cause-and-effect relationship between causal factors, even if they appear significantly removed from each other in the chain of events.

Step 3: Identify Root Causes

The team indentifies why the causal factors that contributed to the accident existed or occurred in the first place. For every event, there will likely be a number of causal factors; for each causal factor, there are usually a number of root causes.

Step 4: Recommend Corrective Action

The team recommends actions that should be taken to prevent a similar accident from happening in the future.

Everyone in a company must be involved in such a process, and continual training of leadership is recommended so the process runs smoothly. When there is a safety accident or incident, the person in charge (leadership) and, if possible, the injured party, conduct the investigation to find the root cause. All accidents should be reviewed by your safety department to ensure that the investigation conducted determined the correct root cause.