What is Basic Failure Analysis?

Basic Failure Analysis (BFA™) is a streamlined, field-oriented problem-solving method designed for frontline workers, operators, and supervisors. It uses a 4-step process to trace everyday failures down to their physical root causes quickly — without the full rigor of a formal RCA. It's built for the people closest to the work, not reliability engineers.

What is the difference between Basic Failure Analysis and RCA?

RCA is designed for high-visibility failures — incidents with safety, regulatory, or significant financial consequences. BFA addresses the chronic, low-cost failures that teams learn to work around but never eliminate. The approach is similar but the data collection is less stringent, and BFA is designed to move fast so teams can solve problems without getting stuck in analysis paralysis.

Who should take Basic Failure Analysis training?

BFA training is designed for craftspeople, operators, and frontline supervisors responsible for continuous improvement. It does not require any prior RCA experience. If your team is dealing with recurring problems they can see and control but haven't had the tools to systematically eliminate, BFA is the right starting point.

How long does Basic Failure Analysis training take?

BFA training is a one-day course — half day of instructional content and half day of practical exercises using real-world failure examples. It is also available in a live interactive format across two consecutive four-hour sessions, and in a Train-the-Trainer format for organizations that want to build internal delivery capability.

What does Basic Failure Analysis training cover?

BFA training covers data collection techniques using the 5 P's, constructing a logic tree, drilling down to physical root causes, calculating the annual cost of chronic failures, generating countermeasures, and obtaining organizational support to implement fixes. Exercises use examples drawn from safety, maintenance, environmental, process, and operational failures.

What are the 5 P's in failure analysis?

The 5 P's are a data collection framework used in PROACT-based analysis: Parts (physical evidence), Paper (documentation and records), Position (locational and timing data), People (eyewitness accounts), and Paradigms (recurring cultural patterns revealed through interviews). In BFA, the 5 P's guide investigators to gather the right information before drawing conclusions.

What is a logic tree in failure analysis?

A logic tree is a structured cause-and-effect diagram that maps the relationship between a failure event and its contributing causes. It starts with the problem at the top and branches downward through hypotheses that are systematically verified or eliminated with evidence. BFA training teaches the basic logic tree structure as the foundation for more advanced RCA methods.

What kinds of failures is Basic Failure Analysis designed for?

BFA is designed for chronic failures — recurring problems that don't rise to the level of a formal RCA but quietly drain productivity, consume maintenance resources, and get absorbed into the operating budget. These are the failures teams work around every day. BFA gives frontline personnel the tools to eliminate them systematically rather than repeatedly firefighting the same issues.

What ROI can organizations expect from Basic Failure Analysis?

Organizations implementing BFA can expect ROI in the range of 600% to 1,000% for every dollar invested, based on the cost of chronic failures eliminated through the program. Because BFA targets problems that recur frequently — even if each instance seems small — the cumulative financial impact of eliminating them is often significantly larger than it appears.

How is Basic Failure Analysis training customized for different industries?

BFA's modular design allows exercises to be tailored to the specific failure types relevant to a given organization — safety incidents, maintenance failures, environmental events, administrative errors, or operational problems. This means teams practice with scenarios that reflect their actual work environment rather than generic examples, accelerating skill transfer to real investigations.

In Person

Online

1 Day

Certification Course

No Prerequisites

Basic Failure Analysis Training

BFA allows you to unleash the creativity of your workforce to resolve issues they see everyday and that they have the control over to eliminate. This allows the corporation as a whole to control the fix instead of the fix controlling operations.

Individual Training

Train Your Team

CEU Eligible

Topics Covered:

Data collection techniques

Constructing a logic tree

Drilling down to physical root causes

Course Description:

Basic Failure Analysis (BFA™) is intended to provide facility personnel the requisite skills and knowledge to eliminate the problems and chronic failures that they are experiencing everyday on the job.

Attendees are provided instruction on a unique 4-step process that guides them through the technique of solving problems and failures down to their root cause(s) using real world examples. In addition, BFA™ details guidelines for the support mechanisms necessary to implement countermeasures to identified root cause(s).

Because of its modular design, BFA™ exercises utilize examples of the different types of failures that are experienced by various organizations (safety, maintenance, environmental, administrative, process, operational, etc.). This enables BFA™ to be tailored to meet the specific needs of plants and organizations.

Course Objective:

One Day:

½ day instructional presentation
½ day practical exercises
Live Interactive – Two 4-Hour sessions in consecutive days

Learning Outcomes:

Upon completion of this course the participant will be able to:

Identify different Problem Solving Methods.
Calculate the annual costs of your chronic failures.
Identify the process used for structured problem solving.
Devise a data collection strategy for the analysis effort.
Use the 5P’s to determine the information needed to solve failures and problems.
Define the elements that comprise a logic tree.
Identify the two elements that form the TOP BOX of a logic tree.
Use logic trees to solve failures and problems down to their root cause(s)
Generate countermeasures to eliminate identified root causes of failures.
Obtain the required support to implement recommendations that will eliminate failure.
Utilize current technologies to document and manage your RCA.

Individual Training

Train Your Team

Next Steps on Your RCA Journey

Connect with an Advisor

Schedule a 15-minute intro session with one of our RCA advisors.

Review Your Goals

A short, no-pressure conversation on your facility's current RCA program and goals.

Define Your Path

We'll identify the right RCA expert to help you explore the perfect solutions for your team.