The 5 Whys is a simple way to dig past the symptom of a problem by asking "why did that happen?" and then asking it again of each answer. Each answer should be a fact you can check, not a guess. You stop when you reach a cause you can act on that would stop the problem coming back, which may take fewer or more than five questions. It works best for problems with a single chain of causes; problems with several causes usually need a fishbone diagram first.
Example: A machine stopped. Why? The motor overheated. Why? The coolant pump was not running. Why? Its filter was clogged. Why? Nobody changed it. Why? The filter was not on the maintenance checklist. The action is to add it to the checklist with a change interval.
Teams often stop at the first answer, such as "operator error" or "motor failed", and replace a part without fixing anything. Pushing a few more levels usually lands on a missing standard, check or instruction, which is something the plant can actually change.
COPLAIN AI PLATFORM
Upload your existing procedures and Coplain AI drafts audit-ready work instructions, job aids and forms from them.
Generate yours automatically with Coplain →Related Tools & Templates