Book companion resource · Worksheet

5 Whys Template for Maintenance Failures

Letter & A4. Print-ready. Free, no email required.

Using the template

Walk one failure back to a cause you can change.

A 5 whys template is a one-page sheet for finding the root cause of a single failure. You write the failure in one sentence. You ask why it happened, then why that happened. You stop when the answer is something you can change, such as a missing PM or a skipped step. Then you test it: would fixing this stop the failure coming back?

The worksheet below, printable as a PDF in Letter and A4.
The stop rule and the confirmation test, so the chain ends at a real cause.
An actions table that turns the root cause into work orders with owners.
A 90-day follow-up check to see if the fix held.

Use it when the failure is one straight line.

Use 5 whys when: One asset failed once, recently. You can picture the causes as a straight line with no branches. The technician, the planner and the supervisor can sit for 20 to 30 minutes within 48 hours.
Switch tools when: Several conditions came together, or the problem is a slow drift instead of one event. Run a Fishbone session. If the asset is new or modified and has not failed yet, that is FMEA work.

Not sure which one you have? The RCA Picker Flowchart decides in three questions.

A filled example: the broken belt.

Example from Fix the System, Chapter 13.

Failure: a drive belt broke.

Why did the belt break? Because the tension was wrong.
Why was the tension wrong? Because the tensioner spring had fatigued.
Why had the spring fatigued? Because it was original to the asset, 23 years old, and had never been on a PM.

Root cause: the tensioner spring was never on a PM. That is something you can change, so you stop.

Three whys were enough. Five is a rule of thumb. Next, the worksheet asks two more things: which work order fixes this drive now, and which other drives still run an original spring.

Answers that mean you are not done.

Operator error. Why did the operator take that action?
Part failure. Why did the part fail?
Wear and tear. That describes the failure. It does not explain it.
We don't know. Then the investigation is not finished.

Questions planners ask

How many whys do you need?: As many as it takes to reach a cause you can change. Sometimes three, sometimes seven. If the last answer only restates the symptom, keep going. If it points at a missing PM, a training gap, a procedure not followed or a part number substitution, stop there and run the confirmation test.
Who should be in the room?: The technician who did the repair, the planner and the supervisor. Three people. Do it within 48 hours, while the repair is fresh. Attach the sheet to the asset's record in your CMMS, next to the work order close-out, so the next person who opens that asset can find it.
When is 5 whys the wrong tool?: When a why has more than one true answer. A seal can fail from the wrong material, misalignment and a pressure spike at the same time. Follow one branch and you miss the others. If you catch yourself rewriting the chain because there is another branch, stop and run a Fishbone session.
What should a 5 whys end with?: At least one work order and at least one change to a standard, a procedure or training. If neither exists, the analysis is not finished. Ninety days later, check the asset. If the failure came back, the action never closed, the change did not hold, or the cause was wrong.

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The PDF remains the blank worksheet. This web guide is excluded from printing so it does not add pages to the form.

A 20-minute structured conversation for linear, single-event failures. Fill out in order. Stop when the last "why" points to something you can actually change.

Companion to: Fix the System, Chapter 13. Who uses it: the technician who did the repair + the planner + the supervisor. Three people. When: within 48 hours of the failure, while the repair is fresh. Time to complete: 20 to 30 minutes. Filed where: attached to the asset's CMMS record alongside the work-order close-out. Referenced in the work order's Notes field.

Header

Date: ____________ Facilitator: ____________________________

Asset tag: ____________ Asset description: _____________________

Work order #: ____________ Failure code: ________________________

Participants (name + role):

_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________

The failure event

One sentence. Specific equipment. Specific date. Specific symptom.

_______________________________________________________________

When was the last prior failure on this asset (same or similar failure code)? Date: ____________

Is this the third or greater occurrence of this failure code in the last 12 months?

Yes — this is a repeat failure and RCA is required.
No — RCA is discretionary. Continue if the failure was costly, unexpected, or safety-adjacent.

Before you start: tool check

5 Whys is the right tool only when the cause chain is linear and recent. Check:

A single, identifiable failure event (not a slow drift, not multiple events combined).
The sequence of causes can be imagined as a straight line with no branches.
A 20-minute conversation will likely identify the root.

If any of these is not true, stop and switch to a Fishbone session. This worksheet will not give you a useful answer on a multi-cause problem.

The chain

Fill each row in order. For each "Why," the next row's "Because" is the cause of the prior row's effect.

You do not have to fill all five rows. Stop as soon as the last "Because" points to something you can actually change (a missing PM, a training gap, a procedure not followed, a part number substitution). The number five is a rule of thumb, not a law.