The document emphasizes that 98% of accidents are preventable, primarily due to unsafe acts and conditions, and cautions against blaming employees as it may hinder thorough investigations into root causes. It discusses various root cause analysis methods, such as brainstorming and fishbone diagrams, while highlighting common pitfalls and the importance of focusing on underlying causes rather than symptoms. Additionally, it stresses that consistent success with these methods is limited, urging safety professionals to treat the cause behind incidents.

1. STOP THE BLAME,
FIND THE CAUSE
2% OF ALL ACCIDENTS ARE UNPREVENTABLE
THE OTHER 98% ARE PREVENTABLE
88% ARE CAUSED BY UNSAFE ACTS
10% BY UNSAFE CONDITIONS
0 20 40 60 80 100
Blaming employees can be the easiest explanation for accidents,
but also the most unlikely one. Pointing to the obvious cause may
close off the investigation quickly, but it could lead to another
accident caused by the same thing down the road. If you blame
the Man, you may miss the opportunity to question other
contributing factors.
Machine
Environment
Man
Method
Material
Measurement
Root Cause Analysis is a framework for investigating why incidents occur.
88% OF SAFETY PROFESSIONALS USE ROOT CAUSE ANALYSIS
0 20 40 60 80 100
THE MOST POPULAR METHODS OF ROOT CAUSE ANALYSIS
ARE BRAINSTORMING OR AFFINITY DIAGRAMS:
Brainstorming
Affinity diagrams
Fishbone chart
Others
BRAINSTORMING/AFFINITY DIAGRAMS
HOW IT HELPS:
These techniques tap into a
team’s intuition and stimulate
many ideas. Affinity diagrams
provide some structure for
brainstorming
POTENTIAL PITFALL:
Often teams start to
countermeasure each of the
brainstormed ideas rather
than the root cause, which
wastes resources and time
MACHINE MAN
FISHBONE DIAGRAMS OR CAUSE AND EFFECT DIAGRAMS:
FISHBONE ANALYSIS
HOW IT HELPS:
Visualizing potential causes
can be useful to focus
conversation
MAN ENVIRONMENT
Physical
limitations
FIVE WHY ANALYSIS:
For more information on Root Cause Analysis
methods – watch this free webinar:
http://www.medgate.com/webinar/using-root-cause-analysis-improve-safety/
*Statistics taken from a survey of 223 safety professionals
DEFECTIVE
EQUIPMENT
WRONG
TOOL
INADEQUATE
TRAINING
PHYSICAL
LIMITATIONS
ENVIRONMENT
EXCESSIVE
NOISE
OVERCROWDING
NO PROCESS
TASK
OVERDUE
EQUIPMENT NOT
CALIBRATED
NO
INSPECTION
WRONG
PARTS
DANGEROUS
CHEMICAL
METHOD
MATERIAL
MEASUREMENT
HIGHER NUMBER
OF INCIDENTS
Lack of skills due to
inadequate training
Defective equipment
Wrong tool for the job
Not enough PPE
Excessive noise
Crowding workers
into one area
MACHINE
Why? Why? Why? Why? Why?
FIVE WHY ANALYSIS
POTENTIAL PITFALL:
This may lead to an
immediate cause, but it is
best not to stop digging
HOW IT HELPS:
Means you do not stop
questioning until a root
cause (or several) has been
identified. You can use that
knowledge to improve your
systems over time.
POTENTIAL PITFALL:
Don’t take the number five
literally, you may only
need three or you may
need seven – each case
will be different.
With all of these methods, you must be careful
not to fall into the pitfalls. Only a third of safety
professionals see consistent results from root
cause analysis -remember: treat the cause, not
the symptoms
WHICH METHODS DO YOU USE AND WHY? #findthecause