IEC 62740-2015 PDF

Full title and description

St IEC 62740-2015 — Root cause analysis (RCA). This International Standard describes the basic principles of root cause analysis and specifies the recommended steps and attributes of an RCA process, together with descriptions of commonly used RCA techniques and guidance on their selection and application.

Abstract

IEC 62740:2015 explains the purpose and structure of RCA as an a posteriori method to analyse causes of focus events (failures, incidents or other outcomes). It identifies attributes for choosing appropriate RCA techniques, describes a range of techniques and summarizes their strengths and weaknesses, and clarifies that the standard is intended to support investigation and learning rather than to assign blame or legal liability.

General information

• Status: International Standard (published / current; stability date noted by publisher).
• Publication date: 13 February 2015 (edition 1.0).
• Publisher: International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), TC 56 Dependability.
• ICS / categories: 03.120.01 (Dependability, reliability, availability, maintainability and safety).
• Edition / version: Edition 1.0 (2015).
• Number of pages: 151 (IEC international edition; national/adopted documents may show different page counts due to formatting).

Source information and official bibliographic details are provided by the IEC publication record.

Scope

IEC 62740:2015 covers principles and a recommended process for conducting root cause analysis of events that have already occurred (a posteriori analyses). It applies across domains where investigation of failures, incidents or non-conformances is required and where understanding root causes supports corrective actions and improvement. The standard explicitly excludes assigning legal responsibility or liability, although its techniques can be adapted for proactive use in design or risk assessment when appropriate.

Key topics and requirements

• Definition of RCA principles and objectives.
• Recommended steps for an RCA process (from event definition, data collection and analysis, through to root-cause identification, recommendations and follow-up).
• Attributes and criteria to help select appropriate RCA techniques for a given focus event.
• Descriptions of common RCA techniques and their relative strengths and weaknesses (for example: cause-and-effect analysis, 5 Whys, fault tree analysis, barrier analysis, human factors analysis and similar causal methods as applied to incidents and failures).
• Guidance on using RCA for investigating non-conformances in management systems and for failure analysis in maintenance and testing contexts.
• Clarification that RCA is primarily retrospective and not intended as a tool for assigning blame or legal liability.

These topic areas are described in the main IEC publication and in national/adopted versions.

Typical use and users

This standard is used by reliability, safety and quality engineers, maintenance and operations managers, investigators, auditors and organizational improvement teams across industry, utilities, transport, healthcare and other sectors that perform incident or failure investigations. It is suitable for those establishing or improving RCA processes, selecting analysis techniques, or training investigators in structured causal analysis.

Related standards

IEC 62740 is related to other dependability and risk-analysis standards and guidance (for example ISO/IEC 31010 on risk assessment techniques is referenced in related product notes). It has been adopted in regional/national forms such as EN 62740:2015 and BS EN 62740:2015; users should check national bodies for adopted versions and translations.

Keywords

root cause analysis, RCA, incident investigation, failure analysis, causal analysis, a posteriori analysis, dependability, reliability, corrective action.

FAQ

Q: What is this standard?

A: IEC 62740:2015 is an international standard that specifies principles, a process framework and guidance for performing root cause analysis of events and failures.

Q: What does it cover?

A: It covers the steps of an RCA process, attributes for choosing RCA techniques, descriptions of commonly used techniques (with strengths and weaknesses), and guidance for applying RCA to incidents, failures and non-conformances. The standard focuses on retrospective analyses and is not intended to assign legal blame.

Q: Who typically uses it?

A: Reliability, safety and quality professionals, maintenance and operations teams, investigators, auditors and anyone responsible for incident investigation, corrective actions and organizational learning.

Q: Is it current or superseded?

A: IEC 62740:2015 is the first edition published in 2015. The IEC bibliographic record indicates a stability date; users should verify with their national standards body for any amendments, corrigenda or later revisions.

Q: Is it part of a series?

A: It is published under IEC TC 56 (Dependability) and is related to other dependability and risk assessment standards; regional/adopted versions exist (EN/BS EN). It is not numbered as a multi-part series but should be used alongside complementary standards such as ISO/IEC 31010 for risk assessment techniques.

Q: What are the key keywords?

A: Root cause analysis, RCA, incident investigation, failure analysis, causal analysis, a posteriori analysis, dependability.