The below insights were provided by Steve Ellington, an experienced Quality and Health & Safety Consultant.

Unexpected happenings are a part of life.

Why did the light stop working in the bathroom?

Or why, with all the rain we have had, is water damage appearing on the bathroom ceiling?

Of course, as much as we need to be ready to adapt and tackle challenges head-on, it is important to understand why these things happen, because we want to prevent them from reoccurring. This can mean making a little effort, but taking the time to recognise the issue can be satisfying and bring significant peace of mind.

This is particularly vital within the working environment. When something goes wrong within production, or we receive a complaint against our service, we need to take steps to find out why it has gone wrong. Otherwise, the problem could reoccur and there could be more serious implications further down the line.

So, do we go far enough to find out what REALLY caused the problem in the first place?

In other words, what was the real root cause of the problem?

If we don’t understand the real root cause, we might just be treating the symptoms. And whilst that may resolve the issue on a short-term basis, it might not stop the problem resurfacing again in the future.

One way to get to the heart of the problem is to ask ourselves the ‘5 Whys’. Take a look at the example below for an illustration of what I mean:

 

Scenario

Young Sophie cut her finger on a broken piece of glass on the floor of my garden shed.

Why #1 – Why did she cut her hand?

There was a piece of glass on the floor.

Why #2 – Why was there a piece of glass on the floor?

An empty jar fell off the shelf.

Why #3 – Why did the jar fall off the shelf?

Other containers fell on it, resulting in it falling to the ground and breaking.

Why #4 – Why did other containers fall on it?

They had been poorly stacked.

Why #5 – Why were they poorly stacked?

There is not enough storage area.

 

Therefore, we can determine the root cause of this problem is the fact there was not enough storage area in the garden shed. Ensuring that there is enough storage area or reducing the items being stored in future could prevent anyone from being hurt by a broken container in the future. (And let’s face it, we all have too much stuff in our sheds!)

How could this be addressed? If there is room, we could install another shelf. Alternatively, we could have a good clear out to help reduce what’s in the shed.

Of course, we could go further… We could build a bigger shed if we have the room to do so.

But the point is: if all we did is put a plaster on Sophie’s finger and clean up the broken glass, we are failing to understand the real root cause of the issue. We are just correcting and treating the symptoms. And, in time, it could happen again, perhaps with even worse consequences.

This scenario shows us that often we cannot foresee an issue arising in the workplace. However, once it has happened, the essential thing is to take the time to understand exactly why it happened.

Why not try the ‘5 Whys’ method in your workplace to understand the real root cause of an issue? Especially when raising corrective actions.

And stay safe out there!