The Importance of Root Cause Analysis During Incident Investigation (OSHA Fact Sheet)

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) urge employers (owners and operators) to conduct a root cause analysis following an incident or near miss at a facility.¹ A root cause is a fundamental, underlying, system-related reason why an incident occurred that identifies one or more correctable system failures.² By conducting a root cause analysis and addressing root causes, an employer may be able to substantially or completely prevent the same or a similar incident from recurring.

OSHA Process Safety Management and EPA Risk Management Program Requirements