Why?

From the beginning of our lives, we have a natural propensity to be curious about the world around us. In our very young, formative world, we learn about cause and effect, and how it helps to shape our decision making process. This curiosity also brings out the ‘investigator’ in us.” If you’ve ever been around young children then you know that one of the most relentless questions they ask is WHY? But these kids don’t stop at just one WHY—nope—they keep going and going and going! WHY? WHY? WHY? If you’re lucky, it’s just a few WHYs, but sometimes it's perpetual WHYs! The conversation might go something like this:

• Kid- Why do you drink diet soda?
• Adult- Because it doesn’t contain sugar.

• Kid- Why doesn’t it contain sugar?
• Adult- Because it’s an alternative for people who don’t want to consume sugar.

• Kid- Why don’t people want to consume sugar?
• Adult- Because too much sugar is bad for you.

• Kid- Why is sugar bad for you?
• Adult- Because it can cause health problems.

• Kid- Why does it cause health problems?
• Adult- [verbally fatigued and getting frazzled] Ok, that’s enough for now. We’ll talk more about it later!

Good job, kid! By continuing to ask the question WHY, you were able to understand how one thing links to another. You asked WHY a total of 5 times (although your last WHY wasn’t fully answered because your father was starting to get frazzled).

Years later, that kid is all grown up and no longer incessantly asks WHY about everything. But wait…there’s more! That kid is now a safety manager at an aviation organization. Part of his job requires safety investigations. Welcome back to the world of WHYs!

If you’re involved in safety management, then you are no doubt familiar with the 5 WHYs investigation method. It works exactly the same way as when you were a kid, except that it focuses on finding the root cause(s) of a safety event (i.e., incident or accident). We keep asking the question WHY until we arrive at the final WHY. Generally, it consists of 5 WHYs, but may require fewer or may require more, depending on the complexity of the investigation. It is a simple yet effective technique that is used to sequentially determine the ‘links in the chain.’ We start with the safety event (i.e., runway excursion) and then work our way backwards to determine the root cause(s) (i.e., the factors the led up to the runway excursion, such as an unstable approach, non-adherence to SOPs, non-standard phraseology, skipped checklist items, etc.).

Do you use the 5 WHYs investigative method? If not, WHY? Stay safe my friends!

Dr. Bob Baron conducts aviation safety training, consulting, and program implementation for aviation operators on a global basis.

Sensitive and knowledgeable about various cultures, Dr. Baron uses his 36+ years of academic and practical experience to assist aviation organizations in their pursuit of safety and quality excellence. He has extensive experience working with developing nations and island countries. He also provides training and consulting to some of the largest airlines and aircraft manufacturers in the world, as well as civil aviation authorities and accident investigation bureaus.

If your aviation organization is interested in improving its culture, implementing programs such as Human Factors, SMS, SSP, or LOSA, or have an external, unbiased safety audit/Gap analysis, please get in touch.

Dr. Baron’s company, TACG, provides numerous training, consulting, and auditing services. For more information, please go to https://www.tacgworldwide.com