Root Cause Analysis (RCA)
Systematic investigation to identify the underlying cause of a failure or incident, not just its symptom.
Definition
Root cause analysis (RCA) is the systematic investigation of a failure or incident to identify its underlying cause, rather than stopping at the first plausible or most visible explanation. A properly conducted RCA traces evidence through physical, procedural, and organizational layers until the actual driver of failure — not merely a contributing symptom — is confirmed.
Why Most RCA Stops Too Early
A common failure mode in root cause analysis is premature closure — stopping an investigation at the first plausible explanation rather than testing it against the available evidence. A bearing that failed "due to lubrication loss" raises further questions: why was lubrication missed, was the procedure clear, was there schedule pressure to skip a step. Each of these is a distinct potential root cause, and conflating them with the immediate technical symptom produces a corrective action that does not actually prevent recurrence.
Rigorous RCA uses structured logic trees, with every hypothesis tested and alternative pathways explored before a conclusion is reached, and traceability back to original evidence — inspection logs, work orders, sensor data.
How This Connects to Knar Global's Work
Knar Global's Prysma CAUSALITY methodology is built specifically to address this limitation: it is a causal integration platform that scales an investigation from physics-of-failure through procedural and organizational layers, using structured logic trees to prevent premature closure and ensure the corrective action addresses the actual driver of recurrence — not just its most visible symptom.