What is the primary aim of a root cause analysis following a safety incident in a healthcare setting?

• A. Identify contributing factors and prevent recurrence
• B. Assign blame to individuals
• C. Pursue punitive action
• D. Ignore minor contributing factors

Answer: (A)

Root cause analysis aims to uncover the underlying factors that contributed to a safety incident and to put changes in place that prevent recurrence. In healthcare, incidents often arise from a combination of system issues—workflow, communication, equipment, policies, environmental factors—rather than a single person’s error. An RCA follows a structured, non-punitive approach to trace how and why the event happened, identify root causes, and design corrective actions that address those systemic weaknesses. The goal is to reduce the chance of similar incidents happening again and to improve patient safety. Punitive actions or ignoring factors don’t drive learning or improvement and can discourage reporting and systemic fixes.