What is Root Cause Analysis (RCA)?
RCA in Understanding a Labor Violation
Root-Cause Analysis is a problem-solving tool that allows you to go more in-depth by asking why a situation happened.
It is any process where one goes or digs deep into a problem;
It aims to find out the factors that caused or contributed to the problem; or
It aims to establish a cause-and-effect relationship. (Note: The non-compliance is often the effect, although at times it could be the cause.)
A human rights issue almost always reflects a breakdown in a company and the environment within which the organization operates. When workers in a fishing boat or ship are trafficked or face exploitative working conditions, we do not stop at detecting and identifying those as serious issues. As good assessors, using the RCA method, we also probe, dig deeper, and understand what led to such problems.
Most labor issues identified in assessments are typically outward signs or symptoms of a deeper problem in a company or organization. A good Assessor who uncovers a labor or human rights’ issue is compelled to deepen the inquiry and to get at the core issue of a non-conformance.
Ultimately, any assessment or data-gathering exercise has to lead to the organization’s ability to make important decisions, such as: What in the organization’s structure, policies, or ways of working need to improve?
That is why an SRA assessor has to bring analytical skills to bear on the process, not only in spotting a non-compliance but also being able to establish the context and the whys of the issues.
Why does an SRA assessor have to learn RCA?
Root-cause analysis is an important tool in diagnosing a problem. If a doctor or an IT engineer or designer is to effectively treat a patient or a client, she or he does not only try to alleviate the symptoms or to trouble-shoot the issue, but also work at curing the patient or addressing the bug or redesigning the part that is causing the system’s breakdown. Diagnosing the problem is the first step in addressing it, and is an important reference when determining the sufficiency of a solution/corrective action/remedy.
If you are to give a full account of a problem, it is inevitable to have to explain its causes.
Root-causes of a non-compliance give shape and direction to corrective actions, e.g. the action is directed towards addressing the root cause and not just the symptom.
RCA enables you to see the bigger picture.
It goes beyond finding fault or assigning blame to a person. When people fail to comply with a requirement, RCA requires you to find out the cause of the problematic or poor performance.
It is the logical next step or next line of inquiry following an uncovering of an issue.
What may seem first as random events or outcomes emerge later to be interlinked.
The assessor has a framework to evaluate fishing operators’ plans to address labor issues or to improve labor practices. Asking basic questions such as “Does the action plan address the root-causes of the labor non-compliance?” or “Are there more than one factor that are causing or contributing to the issue?” will be helpful in assessing the adequacy of the action plan.
“Problem solving is decision-making when there is complexity and uncertainty that rules out obvious answers, and where there are consequences that make the work to get good answers worth it.”
Conn, Charles. Bulletproof Problem Solving (p. xiii). Wiley.
Importance of RCA in the Corrective Action Process
Figure 1. RCA in the corrective action process.
Addressing Non-conformances, Violations, and Problems
Corrective action refers to action steps geared toward correcting or eliminating a non-conformance and reducing or eliminating an identified risk. It focuses on the systematic investigation of the root causes of non-conformities found in an assessment.
As a Tool for Problem Diagnosis
The findings and other information gathered from an SRA assessment form the basis of the fishery’s improvement plan. In so far as the unit of assessment does not meet the Monterey standard, the UA develops an action plan to address that gap. That is why, defining the non-compliance in as much detail as possible provides the UA the canvas and the compass for the FIP, its activities honed by the root-causes and its parameters set by the context in which the issue occurred. In short, a corrective action plan is as good as the data points of the SRA assessment, including the root causes.