In a 5 Whys analysis, the term used to denote the accident cause after deeper questioning is

In a 5 Whys analysis, the term used to denote the accident cause after deeper questioning is

• A. root cause
• B. symptom
• C. effect
• D. causation

Answer: (D)

In a 5 Whys analysis, you keep asking “Why?” to peel back layers and reach the fundamental reason behind an accident. The thing you uncover after digging deeper is the root cause—the underlying process, system, or management factor that allowed the incident to occur. Understanding the root cause helps you implement fixes that prevent recurrence. A symptom is a visible issue that signals there is a problem but does not explain why it happened. An effect is simply a consequence, not the source of the problem. Causation refers to the general idea of cause-and-effect, but the label used for the underlying reason in this method is root cause, not causation.

In a 5 Whys analysis, you keep asking “Why?” to peel back layers and reach the fundamental reason behind an accident. The thing you uncover after digging deeper is the root cause—the underlying process, system, or management factor that allowed the incident to occur. Understanding the root cause helps you implement fixes that prevent recurrence. A symptom is a visible issue that signals there is a problem but does not explain why it happened. An effect is simply a consequence, not the source of the problem. Causation refers to the general idea of cause-and-effect, but the label used for the underlying reason in this method is root cause, not causation.