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Root Cause Determination

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The principles of Root Cause Analysis (RCA) are applied to assure that the root cause of a failure is understood and appropriate corrective actions may be identified. An RCA exercise may simply be the momentary mental exercise or an extensive logistical charting analysis. The concept of RCA does not apply to failures alone, but is applied in response to an undesirable event or condition. Root cause analysis is intended to identify the fundamental cause(s) that if corrected will prevent recurrence. The three levels of root cause analysis are Physical Roots, Human Roots and Latent Roots.

In some cases the concept of an effective failure anysis and a root cause analyses are confused. In the root cause concept, physical roots are where many failure analyses stop. These roots may be what comes out of a laboratory investigation or engineering analysis and are often component level or materials level findings. Human roots involve human factors that caused the failure, an example being an error in human judgment. Latent roots lead us to the cause of human error such as organizational or procedural in nature. Altran Solutions has extensive expertise in both failure analysis and root case analysis and make a clear distinction between the two.

Many tools exist to assist in performing root cause analysis. The most important element however is the preservation of an open mind by the investigator or investigating team. Preconceived ideas or the existence of an investigative bias often obstructs effective root cause investigations.

A visual representation of an RCA is also more easily understood than a long narrative description. Many charting methods have been developed which aid in the logical organization of information as an aid in performing a root cause analysis. Although such techniques can be invaluable for completeness and logistical analysis, one must not inhibit creativity and an open mind.

Altran Solutions offers root cause support as part of a team or as a complete offering. These offerings include training and procedure writing in both formal root cause analysis and a less rigorous, but effective, apparent root cause approach.