Building the framework

Need to catch up? You can read all the root cause analysis entries here.

The second step in conducting root cause analysis is:

Establish categories of potential causes.

This step provides you with a framework for the brainstorming that we'll talk about tomorrow, and it does make the process flow more smoothly. Without the kind of "jump-start" you get from establishing categories up front, you might end up with a conference room full of people, each staring at the other, with no idea where to start.

Some likely categories include:

• People: Human failures will fall into this category; so too would causes related to the number of people involved in a given procedure.
• Processes: Are there processes that are themselves flawed, and which may have caused the error? Those would be listed under this category.
• Standard Operating Procedures: If your business uses SOPs, any gaps or errors in the SOPs would be listed under this category.
• Equipment: This category will include any physical failures on the equipment used in the procedure where the failure occurred. This can refer to powered industrial equipment, powered assembly lines, or computer hardware.
• Environment: Any possible causes related to the layout of the facility, the temperature - or the cultural environment - will be listed in this category.
• Systems: Use this category to list systems causes such as software bugs or program failures.

Your particular business or the particular error might lend itself to more categories, fewer categories, or different categories. You don't need to use my list as the be-all and end-all of RCA categorization; my list is merely a jumping-off point you can use to get started.

Tomorrow: The heavy lifting begins when we start identifying specific potential causes.