A detailed study to identify the cause of an incident is best described by which term?

• A. Incident investigation
• B. Near-miss review
• C. Root cause analysis
• D. Hazard assessment

Answer: (C)

Root cause analysis aims to uncover the underlying factors that allowed an incident to occur, going beyond immediate symptoms to identify systemic weaknesses, faulty processes, or gaps in controls. By conducting a detailed study to determine why something happened, you target the real causes so corrective actions prevent recurrence and improve safety overall. An incident investigation describes what happened and may identify immediate causes, but it doesn’t necessarily dig as deep for root contributors. A near-miss review focuses on events that could have caused harm but didn’t, not on a concluded incident’s true causes. Hazard assessment looks ahead to identify potential hazards and risks, rather than analyzing a past incident. So the best term for a thorough analysis to identify the cause of an incident is root cause analysis.