Other Names for Root Cause Analysis

Root Cause Termination
Jane
Actually, any Root Cause Analysis is just the first step in a process that has as the desired outcome to take away the root cause of the problem or event. That's why sometimes you'll find also 'Root Cause Problem Termination' or 'Root Cause Problem Elimination' being used.

Event Analysis
Leon Booysen, Management Consultant, South Africa, Member
Actually it's just "event analysis".

When to Undertake RCA
Jagdish B Acharya, Consultant, India, Premium Member
1. Cause and Effect analysis (Ishikawa Diagram or (C-E Analysis) helps in finding possible causes by using Brainstorming.
2. Pareto Analysis helps in getting to the problems that have maximum impact as most likely candidates for RCA from C-E Analysis.
3. Controllability is one more factor which should be considered before going deep in RCA because factors which depend on envirnment and difficult to control may not be useful after RCA.
4. Another factor to be considered is knowledge level and instrumentation or such enabling factors whose absence may severely hamper chances of success in RCA.

Other Names for Root Cause Analysis
Bill Wilson, Analyst, Canada, SIG Leader
I have seen the phrase Critical Event Analysis before, but I can't remember what the problem domain was... Medical maybe? I've also seen Sentinel Event Analysis in the medical field. I think most fields/industries that take on Root Cause Analysis impart a unique spin to the practice, sometimes extending to the name. However, I think the general aim is usually unchanged: figure out what happened, how it happened, why it happened, and what fundamental causes created the risk so that effective corrective action can be taken to prevent recurrence and/or reduce risk.