Root Cause Analysis Information

Bluff Collapse Releases Coal Ash

November 9, 2011

On October 31, 2011, a bluff collapsed at a power plant on the shores of Lake Michigan.  The resulting mudslide took trailers, storage units, at least one truck and an unknown amount of coal ash into the lake, which provides drinking water for more than 40 million people.  Cleanup is ongoing, but the overall impact [...]

Read the full article →

BlackBerry’s Widespread Failure

November 3, 2011

BlackBerry faced yet another setback last month when service went down world-wide for multiple days.  The Research in Motion (RIM) company, already facing stiff competition from other smart phone vendors, apologized profusely for the outage and vowed to woo back its customers.  What caused the extensive and possibly business-ending service outage? A root cause analysis [...]

Read the full article →

Severe Flooding in Thailand

October 26, 2011

Thailand is experiencing an unusually heavy monsoon season, but it’s management of the rains that are being blamed for the most severe flooding to occur in the area in decades.  Heavy rains resulting from the monsoon season and high tides are creating serious difficulties for officials in the area, who are having to make hard [...]

Read the full article →

Driver Death at Indy 300

October 19, 2011

The racing world was filled with sadness with the death of Dan Wheldon during the Indy 300 race in Las Vegas on October 16, 2011.  However, many race-car drivers were not shocked at the occurrence of a 15-car pileup that resulted in Wheldon’s death.  Specifically, these drivers note that the track – which was designed [...]

Read the full article →

Toxic Fumes on Aircraft

October 14, 2011

A settlement against an aircraft manufacturer, with regards to a claim that faulty design allowed toxic fumes to enter the cabin, occurred in early October 2011.  It is the first of its kind to occur in the U.S., but may not be the last.  A documentary entitled “Angel Without Wings” is attempting to bring more [...]

Read the full article →

1982 Tylenol Tampering

October 5, 2011

In 1982, 31 million bottles of Tylenol were recalled after seven deaths from cyanide poisoning.  After an investigation, higher than lethal doses of cyanide were found to have been inserted into bottles of Extra-Strength Tylenol capsules in retail stores in the Chicago area. Tylenol’s manufacturer, Johnson & Johnson, immediately took action and recalled all Tylenol [...]

Read the full article →

Power Outage Stretches from Arizona to California

September 29, 2011

On September 8, 2011, work on a fault capacitor in Arizona began a series of events that resulted in the worst power outage in the Southwest for 15 years.  Although there were no injuries reported as a result of the power outage, there was a high potential for injuries and/or deaths, as hospitals shut down [...]

Read the full article →

Crash Causes Deaths at Air Race

September 21, 2011

Sad news is nothing new for the National Championship Air Races – there have been 29 deaths associated with the races in its 47-year history.  However, the ten deaths and dozens of injuries (some extremely serious) resulting from a plane crash and explosion on September 16, 2011 have brought attention to the safety of air [...]

Read the full article →

Explosion at Nuclear Waste Site Kills One

September 16, 2011

An explosion at a nuclear waste processing site in France killed one and injured four workers on September 12, 2011.  The investigation is still ongoing, but it is still possible to create a Cause Map, a visual root cause analysis, that contains all known information on the incident.  As more information becomes available, the Cause [...]

Read the full article →

International Space Station Supply Ship Crash

September 7, 2011

On August 24, 2011, a supply ship heading to the International Space Station (ISS) crashed in Siberia, losing two tons of cargo.  However, the impact of this loss was much more than the two tons of cargo – it may lead to an evacuation of the ISS, which would become unmanned for some unknown period [...]

Read the full article →

← Previous Entries

Next Entries →