CORE-833 P2 – CORE Microlearnings

ROOT CAUSE OF NONCOMPLIANCE

The first step in the corrective action process is to determine the root cause of the noncompliance.

IMPORTANT The word “why” is very important because in order to successfully implement corrective action, you must first understand what caused the noncompliance.

When a facility is cited for noncompliance, it should attempt to understand the root cause. When your sponsored facilities are completing corrective action, they must identify the causes. Essentially, they are correcting what caused the noncompliance.

The best way to do this is to ask the question “Why.” A root-cause analysis is necessary to get to the bottom of the noncompliance. The 5 Whys is a method that will help you to determine the root-cause of the noncompliance.

The key is to ask “Why?” as many times as needed to uncover the true cause of the noncompliance.

Asking “Why?” 5 times is a gauge, but not an absolute. You should ask “Why?” as many or as few times as necessary to uncover why the noncompliance occurred.