How to Use the 5-Whys for Root Cause Analysis (Word DOCX)

Understanding how to use the 5-Whys for Root Cause Analysis. The 5-Why method of root cause analysis requires you to question how the sequential causes of a failure event arose and identify the cause-effect failure path.

‘Why' is asked to find each preceding trigger until we supposedly arrive at the root cause of the incident. Unfortunately, it is easy to arrive at the wrong conclusion. A Why question can be answered with multiple answers, and unless there is evidence that indicates which answer is right, you will most likely have the wrong failure path. You can improve your odds of using the 5-Why method correctly if you adopt some simple rules and practices.

Keywords: Five Whys, Root Cause Failure Analysis, RCFA, cause-effect tree, Fault Tree Analysis, FTA

The Document consisnts of a clear and succinct understand of how to conduct a 5 Why analysis when looking for root cause of problems in a variety of fields. It also includes examples highlighting the methodology applied to real life scenarios.