Latent Cause Analysis for Everyone

The following quiz focuses on the application of the Mini-LCA and was designed to reinforce the learning obtained in the Live Webinar entitled LCA for Everyone. Please answer all questions as they relate to the Mini-LCA.

First name:		Last name:
Company		Location
email address

The 3 types of LCA suggested by Failsafe are:

	shallow, medium, deep
	physical, human, latent
	lone, small group, large team
	maxi, midi, mini

Evidence gathered from people is of little use -- it is not factual.

	True
	False

The Triggering Situation is

	the thoughts that were going through a person's mind at the time of the incident.
	the specific equipment flaw that triggered the incident.
	an explanation of the "imagined" point in time when the human cause occurred.

A good example of Triggering Situation is: the mechanic was in the field at 2:00 PM on Tuesday, installing a new motor.

	True
	False

It is important to "ask" each form of evidence to "speak for itself."

	True
	False

It is ALWAYS important to be confrontational when doing any kind of LCA.

	True
	False

Failsafe has suggested to never use the phrase "root cause" in an LCA.

	True
	False

The types of evidence that Failsafe has suggested be considered in an LCA are:

	People, Physical, and Paper
	Facts, opinions, and paradigms.
	Phyiscal, Human, and Latent
	Hard, soft.

Latent Causes are defined

	for each Human Cause.
	by putting yourself in the other person's shoes.
	for all LCA's.
	by trying your best to imagine the situation that lead to the Human Cause.

From the following list, pick the most important feature of the Mini-LCA:

	Mini-LCA's help people see THEMSELVES as contributors to their problem, instead of blaming things on others.
	Mini-LCA's are easier and faster than Maxi or Midi-LCA's
	Mini-LCA's gather information about ORGANIZATIONAL Latent Causes
	Mini-LCA's are PowerPoint based, and can be filled in electronically.
	Mini-LCA's get everyone involved in doing LCA's

Imaging the thoughts that went through a person's mind when they acted inappropriately..

	helps us understand why the person did what he/she did.
	is the 1st step into Latency.
	a ridiculous exercise that is not based on fact and therefore has nothing to do with RCA.
	helps deter us from merely blaming the person.

Photos are better than sketches on the Mini-LCA form

	True
	False

Each of the 3 types of LCA's suggested by Failsafe define different (varying degrees of depth) levels of causes -- that's what makes them different.

	True
	False

According to Failsafe's training, a "who cares" attitude is an example of:

	Human Cause.
	Nothinig -- it has no part of an RCA.
	Latent Cause.
	Management System Cause.
	Psychological Cause.

Without evidence, an LCA is impossible.

	True
	False

Latent Causes are revealed in:

	4 steps.
	2 steps.
	as many steps as necessary.
	1 step.

Personal Latent Causes answer the question:

	who did what?
	what is it about the way HE IS that contributed to this incident?
	what is it about the way WE ARE that contributed to this incident?
	what is it about the way I AM that contributed to this incident?
	what is it about the way WE WERE that contributed to this incident?

Imagining the as-is versus as-desired thoughts is critical to understanding the 4th step into latency.

	True
	False

The People Evidence Summary on the Mini-LCA-form is your place to:

	identify the Human Causes.
	merely list everyone you talked to -- no room for anything else.
	list the main things you learned from the main people -- summarize.

According to Failsafe's training, "Water in the oil" is an example of a:

	Physical Cause
	Potential Cause
	Root Cause
	Human Cause
	Active Cause

The ODDITIES of the 5 Items are an accumulation of things that you find during the RCA that are not necessarily related to the problem but nevertheless important.

	True
	False

The critical difference between the Maxi and Mini LCA's is

	Maxi-LCA's are done by large teams and Mini-LCA's are done by small teams.
	that you are to use your current understanding of your organization when doing Mini-LCA's to imagine the most probable HUMAN and LATENT Causes.
	that Mini-LCA's are not pursued into Human or Latent Causes.

The main purpose of the Mini-LCA is to gather information about Latent Causes.

	True
	False

Organizational Latent Causes are revealed by looking at the contrast between the as-is versus as-desired thoughts.

	True
	False

The Paper Evidence Summary on the Mini-LCA form is your place to:

	summarize the major findings you discovered in the documents you reviewed.
	list all the documents you reviewed.

Which are NOT amongst the main purposes of the 5 Items:

	To remind you of the contents of the RCA report.
	To help you decide what evidence to gather.
	To give you a consistent starting point for any investigation.
	To give you a quick base of understanding before you look at evidence.
	To remind you of all the major steps of any investiagion.
	To slow you down, so you don't jump to conclusions too quickly.

Why should LCA be for everyone? (pick the ONE best answer)

	LCA is NOT something that everyone ought do. It's a specialized endeavor that will only be for a few specially-trained experts.
	Everyone will need to help identify the underlying (latent) causes of problems in their own world so that the common ones can be addressed.
	You never know who might need to be on an RCA team. Therefore, it's important to train everyone on the basics.
	Primarily for informational reasons. People ought to know what's going on in the organization!

Latent Cause Analysis, in the limit, identifies:

	System Causes.
	Latent Causes.
	Root Causes!
	Management System Causes.

It is important that SEQUENCE of the 5 Items be in very small steps, filling-in as many details as possible.

	True
	False

Which of the following IS true about HUMAN Causes:

	Must include WHO did WHAT (without names).
	Must ALWAYS include the name of person that did it.
	Must always use PAST TENSE.
	MUST always confront whomever you think did it to confirm your suspicion.
	Must use the cultural understanding you already have to IMAGINE "who did what."
	Be described in paragraph form.

How many written Mini-LCA's did Failsafe suggest be performed per person per year?

	52
	365
	4
	1

What is TRUE about Organizational Latent Causes?

	It answers the question "what is it about the way we are is evident in these thoughts?"
	Must be prefaced with the word "We."
	Must be specific to this incident, and not relate to anything else.
	Must be stated in Past Tense.

Which is NOT an example of Physical Cause:

	the mission management team lauched in spite of cold temperatures. were too cold at launch.
	ignition would not occur in engine -- spark was okay but no gas was in gas tank.
	forearm sufferred severe blow from baseball bat.
	pump's driveshaft was fractured due to bending fatigue.

What is "The WHY Statement?"

	It's the ANSWER to the RCA: WHY did the problem occur?
	It's the QUESTION that the RCA will answer.

Unresolved LARGE problems will generally cause SMALL problems.

	True
	False

It's the UNRESOLVED small problems that will eventually cause big problems.

	True
	False

The RELATIONSHIP of the 5 Items is a "birds eye view" of the problem (as compared to the close-up that the SCHEMATIC provides).

	True
	False

Which is NOT true about Physical Causes:

	Must answer HOW the incident occurred (as opposed to WHY).
	Must be as SPECIFIC as possible.
	Must be PRESENT tense.
	Must address the PHYSICS of the incident.

Events that are evaluated with a Mini-LCA will undoubtedly have action items -- certainly more than would normally occur if no such anaysis were performed.

	True
	False

Mini-LCA's are to be performed on any event that you would normally work on. They are not to be limited to ONLY unusual or atyipcal problems.

	True
	False

Which of the following IS an example of Human Cause:

	He thought he could get away with it.
	The owner of the car was knowingly driving with a faulty gas gage.
	The motor was misaligned with the pump.
	He didn't understand!

It is important that the SCHEMATIC of the 5 Items be an official engineering drawing, Process and Instrument Diagram, or Process Flow Diagram.

	True
	False

Small problems are bound to occur. There's not too much we can do about that!

	True
	False

Thanks you for taking this quiz. We hope it has reinforced your learning. Please write with any questions or comments.