Best Practices for Root Cause Analysis in the Context of a Potential Dispute

Has your client experienced a failure that has led to an unscheduled outage and extensive costs related to repairs, replacement, and/or lost production? Unplanned failures often have the potential for a dispute between two or more parties related to liability for causation and, ultimately, responsibility to recover unexpected costs from the outage. Unintentional improper handling of physical evidence and information can have a negative impact on the outcome of a potential dispute regardless of the technical reason(s) for the failure. In this talk, I will present best practices for you and your client following an unexpected failure in the context of a potential dispute. These practices include investigation techniques, evidence handling and storage, provenance of email and other written communications, and information / data management. I will also discuss important considerations for those involved in an investigation, including the difference between direct and root cause and the implications of each, typical stakeholders involved, information or data that may be requested of your client, and how to avoid the introduction of bias to the investigation. In addition to the best practices discussed, I will present case study examples from my failure investigation experience in industrial settings that will highlight lessons learned, help reinforce the “dos and don’ts” of proper investigations, and provide guidance for what to expect when you’re involved in a liability dispute.