Root Cause Analysis
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==Introduction== | ==Introduction== | ||
| + | To fully understand what a root cause analysis is and what it is used for, it is easier to relate it to something we are entirely acknowledged with. If your arm hurts considerably after an accident, you will go to the doctor to find the root cause of your pain. Also, if your computer stops working, you will try to find the root cause of its malfunction, either by yourself or by a professional technician. For these examples, a simple remedy could be found for the symptoms. To stop your arm from hurting, you could put ice on it to relive pain. To get work done with a broken computer, you could use your phone or tablet instead. Unfortunately, this would only consider the symptoms and not the underlaying issue that caused the problem. The injured arm may need surgery to entirely recover from the sustained injury, and the broken computer may need to have a new battery to function again. The best way to solve a fault or problem would therefore be to perform a Root Cause Analysis. By doing this, the exact root cause can be found so that the correct management of the fault or problem will be accomplished. | ||
| − | + | In this article, the Root Cause Analysis will be defined (**********************) | |
| + | ==== Goals and benefits of using RCA ==== | ||
| + | ==General Principles== | ||
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| + | ==Conducting an effective root cause analysis== | ||
==Challenges== | ==Challenges== | ||
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| + | ==Annotated Bibliography== | ||
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| + | ==References== | ||
| + | <references /> | ||
Revision as of 16:18, 24 February 2022
Root Cause Analysis (RCA) is a method of problem solving that can be used in a project, program or portfolio (PPP) to identify root causes of faults and problems in order to identify appropriate solutions. It is broadly used in several industries, among the health care, infrastructure and information technology industry. A Root Cause Analysis supposes that it is more effective to go in-depth of occurring problems, so that the underlaying issue can be treated, instead of only treating ad hoc symptoms. Root Cause Analyses can be performed with several different methodologies, principles and techniques together to identify the root causes of a fault or problem. The goal is to find out where processes or systems failed or caused an issue in the first place.
A Root Cause Analysis can be divided into three steps:
- Identify – What went wrong? Do not look at symptoms of the fault or problem, but discover what specifically went wrong and caused the fault or problem.
- Establish a timeline – Establish a timeline that specifies how the situation went from normal to problematical.
- Distinguish root causes from other casual factors – Sort out factors that actually made the failure or problem occur. This can e.g. be done using event correlation.
- Establish an overview between the root cause and the problem – Document how the root cause caused the fault or problem, this can be done e.g. with a casual graph.
Contents |
Introduction
To fully understand what a root cause analysis is and what it is used for, it is easier to relate it to something we are entirely acknowledged with. If your arm hurts considerably after an accident, you will go to the doctor to find the root cause of your pain. Also, if your computer stops working, you will try to find the root cause of its malfunction, either by yourself or by a professional technician. For these examples, a simple remedy could be found for the symptoms. To stop your arm from hurting, you could put ice on it to relive pain. To get work done with a broken computer, you could use your phone or tablet instead. Unfortunately, this would only consider the symptoms and not the underlaying issue that caused the problem. The injured arm may need surgery to entirely recover from the sustained injury, and the broken computer may need to have a new battery to function again. The best way to solve a fault or problem would therefore be to perform a Root Cause Analysis. By doing this, the exact root cause can be found so that the correct management of the fault or problem will be accomplished.
In this article, the Root Cause Analysis will be defined (**********************)
