Who this is for: Auditors and anyone assigned to resolve a finding.
Fixing what an audit found is not the same as fixing why it happened. If a training record is missing and you file the missing record, the record is fixed. If the reason it was missing is that nobody owns the training matrix, it will be missing again next year.
Root cause analysis is the step between finding a problem and deciding what to do about it. It asks: what allowed this to happen?
The module offers three structured methods, and you can skip the analysis where it genuinely is not needed:
Method | Best for |
5 Whys | Straightforward problems with a single chain of cause |
Fishbone (Ishikawa) | Problems that look systemic, where several factors combine |
Fault Tree Analysis | Complex failures with multiple interacting causes |
Skip | Recording that no analysis was carried out, with the reason |
After choosing a method you also select a root cause category from a list your organisation configures. The categories are what make root causes reportable — over time you can see whether your findings are mostly training gaps, mostly procedural, or mostly equipment.
