Root cause analysis
Definition
Root cause analysis is A generic problem-solving methodology employed to determine the fundamental causes (root causes) of events that have an impact on safety, health, environment, quality, reliability, or production. Such systematic investigations help identify ‘what, how, and why’ something happened so that recurrence might be prevented Source: Planning and Execution of Knowledge Management Assist Missions for Nuclear Organizations
Summary
Description
Events rarely have a single root cause. Thus, it is critical that a Root Cause Analysis (RCA) team does not ‘jump to judgment’ and that a sufficiently thorough investigation is made to be reasonably certain that all underlying causes have been identified and that relevant, but non-causal factors, have been filtered out during the RCA process.
Source: Planning and Execution of Knowledge Management Assist Missions for Nuclear Organizations