Focus on root cause, documentation for self inspections
Self inspections are internal audits that identify and document deficiencies for leaders and subject matter experts. Two critical parts to self inspections are identifying the root cause and documentation of the deficiency.
Root Cause Analysis, or RCA, is typically accomplished through the use of tools such as “5 Whys,” brainstorming or the Fishbone Diagram.
One of the most common barriers in identifying the root cause is to assume the cause before investigating.
For example, members in an organization are repeatedly missing training and it is assumed the cause is either forgotten attendance or disregard by the member. Based on this assumption the solution would be focused on the member.
A possible corrective action may be for the supervisor to counsel the importance of training attendance to the member. Yet when the organization accomplished the RCA the cause was identified not as a member issue but as a training issue. The training manager had not been trained on updating the notification system and therefore members were never notified of the required training.
Now the focus is on providing training on the notification system when personnel are initially hired into the position.
As you can see from this example two different solutions were developed, but only one would truly resolve the deficiency.
Once a root cause and a solution are determined, capturing the solution in a document is the next step.
Documenting the deficiency accurately is commonly the most overlooked portion of the self inspection process.
Documentation creates the record of what the root cause was and what corrective actions were taken to resolve the deficiency.
When a deficiency is documented, a follow-up inspection to validate the deficiencies effectiveness can be accomplished. If the corrective action did not alleviate the problem another attempt must be made to correct it.
Documenting previous actions assists in uncovering what corrected the deficiency.
When a deficiency is systemic across an organization, documented successful corrective actions makes it easier to duplicate the remedy to similar problems across the organization. Documenting also shows an inspection team a deficiency has been identified and the steps accomplished to resolve it.
Self inspection is a great tool to correct issues that hinder organizations from meeting the mission goal.
If you have any questions regarding the Self Inspection Program, contact your organizational SIP manager or Ed Delker and John Litanski at (801) 777-5305.