Unintended Consequences

Why You Should Review Your Corrective Actions for Unintended Consequences

In the 5-Day TapRooT® Advanced Root Cause Analysis Team Leader Course, we teach the SMARTER technique for reviewing corrective actions.

SMARTER stands for…

SPECIFIC
MEASURABLE
ACCOUNTABLE
REASONABLE
TIMELY
EFFECTIVE
REVIEWED

Today we will concentrate on the last “R” – REVIEWED.

Reviewed for What?

We suggest that when an investigator develops a corrective action, they should have someone (or maybe several people) review the corrective action for unintended consequences.

One example of a corrective action that had unintended consequences was the “up-armoring” of Humvees during the war in Iraq. What was the unintended consequence? Increased Humvee roll-over accidents. Some suggest that more lives were lost due to roll-overs than were saved by the armor.

Here’s a video with several other examples of unintended consequences…

Practical Reviews

If you are going to introduce a new safety or quality innovation as part of corrective action, it is a good idea to get an independent review by the engineers, operators, and maintenance people that work with the system in question. They may see problems (unintended consequences) and have more practical ideas to achieve the same results more elegantly.

Learn More in the 5-Day TapRooT® Course

SMARTER isn’t the only advanced technique taught in the 5-Day TapRooT® Advanced Root Cause Analysis Team Leader Course. See the course outline HERE.

Attend a public 5-Day Course at one of our courses held around the world. See the upcoming schedule HERE.

Or schedule training at your site. Get a quote for on-site training by calling 865-539-2139 or CLICKING HERE to text one of our TapRooT® Implementation Advisors…