Getting to the Root: Root Cause Analysis Methods

Every incident has a story, and most of the time the first explanation isn’t the real one. Getting to the Root is a podcast for safety professionals, engineers, quality managers, and anyone who’s tired of fixing the same problem twice.

Each episode takes one root cause analysis method and breaks it down: where it came from, how it works step by step, when it shines, where it falls short, and what it looks like applied to a real-world incident. We start with simple techniques you can use in a team meeting tomorrow and work up to the structured, investigation-grade systems used in aviation, mining, oil and gas, and healthcare.

By the end of the series, you won’t just know the methods. You’ll know which one to reach for, and why.
Episode 1: The 5 Whys, Simple, Powerful, and Easy to Get Wrong
Episode 2: The Ishikawa Diagram, Mapping Every Possible Cause
Episode 3: Pareto Analysis, Finding the Vital Few
Episode 4: ICAM, Investigating Beyond the Front Line
Episode 5: Jens Rasmussens AcciMap
Episode 6: FMEA, Finding Failures Before They Happen
Episode 7: Fault Tree Analysis, The Logic of Failure
Episode 8: James Reasons Swiss Cheese Model
Episode 9: Human Factors Analysis and Classification System (HFACS)
Episode 10: Bow-Tie Analysis, Seeing Threats and Barriers in One Picture
Episode 11: TapRooT®, A Systematic Path to Root Causes
Episode 12: Change Analysis and Barrier Analysis, What Changed, and What Failed to Stop It?
Episode 13: Kepner-Tregoe, Thinking Clearly Under Pressure
Episode 14: 8D Eight Disciplines of Problem Solving
Episode 15: Apollo RCA, Every Effect Has More Than One Cause
Episode 16: Choosing the Right Method