Perform root cause analysis for a safety incident

  • Release version: Australia
  • Updated March 12, 2026
  • 1 minute to read

    • Perform a root cause analysis (RCA) for a safety incident as you go through its investigation.

    Before you begin

    Role required: sn_ohs_im.manager, sn_ohs_im.agent, or sn_ohs_im.operations_manager

    About this task

    The application includes the Five whys technique of root cause analysis. You can add as many root cause analyses as you need to an incident.

    Procedure

    1. Navigate to All > Health and Safety > Health and Safety Workspace.
    2. Open a safety incident assigned to you to add the root cause to.
    3. Select the Report an incident tab.
      The incident playbook opens.
    4. In the Add root cause analysis activity, fill in the fields in the Add root cause analysis section.
    5. In the Problem field, enter the problem statement.
    6. To identify the precise one underlying reason, ask why to each of the subsequent responses and enter in Why? fields.
    7. In the Root cause field, enter the answer to the last Why.
    8. Select Save.
    9. Optional: If necessary, add more root cause analysis for this incident.

    Result

    The root cause analysis is listed in the Root cause analysis section of the activity. The root cause card also appears in the Root cause analysis section in the Incident Overview tab.

    What to do next

    Add a corrective or preventive action based on your root cause analysis.