Root Cause Analysis: Using the Five Whys

Root cause analysis is an essential part of incident investigation and continuous improvement. While many organizations focus on correcting immediate problems, lasting improvements come from understanding the underlying causes that allowed those problems to occur.

This self-paced eLearning course provides a practical introduction to the Five Whys methodology, one of the most widely used root cause analysis techniques. Participants will learn how to apply the questioning process to move beyond symptoms and identify underlying equipment, procedural, human, and management system issues that contribute to problems and incidents.

Through practical examples, process safety scenarios, and real-world case studies based on Chemical Safety Board (CSB) investigations, participants will see how the Five Whys methodology can be used to organize information, analyze cause-and-effect relationships, and develop effective corrective actions that help prevent recurrence.

• Explain the purpose and benefits of the Five Whys methodology

• Differentiate between immediate causes, contributing factors, and root causes

• Apply the Five Whys questioning process to identify underlying causes

• Gather and organize information using investigation tools such as Event and Causal Factor Charting and Process Maps

• Recognize situations where multiple cause paths should be explored

• Develop practical corrective actions and effective recommendations

• Apply the Five Whys methodology using process safety examples and real-world CSB incident case studies

• Use investigation findings to support continuous improvement and reduce the likelihood of recurrence

• Process safety professionals

• Process and production engineers

• Operations and maintenance personnel

• Supervisors and managers

• Incident investigation team members

• PHA team members and facilitators

• Anyone responsible for identifying causes of operational problems or process safety incidents

There are no prerequisites for this course. A basic understanding of industrial operations or process safety concepts is helpful but not required.

• 1 to 1.5 hours