Incident Cause Analysis (ICAM)
Map incident causes across the ICAM levels and group them into cause chains — immediate, underlying and management-system — then export your analysis.
Open Incident Cause Analysis (ICAM) →What is the ICAM incident cause analysis tool?
ICAM — the Incident Cause Analysis Method — is a structured way to look past the obvious trigger of an incident and capture the chain of factors that allowed it to happen. This free tool puts the full ICAM causal taxonomy at your fingertips: 33 categories of cause organised into three levels — Immediate Causes (what happened at the sharp end), Underlying Causes (the individual, team and task conditions behind them) and Management System Failure (the organisational and leadership gaps). You tick every factor that contributed, then drag the causes into chain rows — grouping an immediate cause with its related underlying and management-system causes — and export the analysis by chain as a CSV or a printable PDF report. It runs entirely in your browser, saves only on your device, and is a planning and learning aid rather than an official investigation record.
How to use Incident Cause Analysis (ICAM)
- Tick the contributing factors — Scroll to the ICAM cause taxonomy at the bottom, move through the three levels and 33 categories, and tick every factor that genuinely contributed to your incident. Use the search box to filter within a category; a badge shows how many you have selected per category.
- Find them in Unassigned — Each cause you tick appears at the top of the analysis in the Unassigned row, in the column for its level (Immediate, Underlying or Management System).
- Build your cause chains — Drag each card from Unassigned into a chain row to group an immediate cause with the underlying and management-system causes behind it. Use Add chain row for more chains, or the move menu on a card if you prefer not to drag. Cards stay in their own level column.
- Add the incident details — Give the analysis a title and an optional description at the top so the export reads as a complete record.
- Export the analysis — Use Print / Save as PDF for a formatted report or download a CSV — both organised by chain. Everything is generated on your device. Undo and redo are available if you regroup something by mistake.
Frequently asked questions
What do the three ICAM levels mean?
Immediate Causes are the actions and conditions present at the moment of the incident. Underlying Causes are the personal, team and task factors behind them. Management System Failure covers the organisational, leadership and process gaps that let the conditions exist. Good analysis reaches all three, not just the first.
What is a cause chain?
A chain is a row that links one immediate cause to the underlying and management-system causes behind it — the pathway that let the incident happen. You build chains by dragging cards into the same row; a cell can hold more than one cause, and cards always stay in their own level column.
Is my analysis stored anywhere online?
No. Your causes, chains, title and description are saved only in this browser on your device. Nothing is uploaded, so it stays private and works offline.
Does it stay saved if I close the tab?
Yes. Your selection and chain layout are kept in this browser's local storage and reload when you return on the same device and browser. Use Clear all to start fresh.
What can I export?
A printable PDF report — opened in a new tab so you can print it or choose Save as PDF — and a CSV file. Both are organised by chain, listing each chain's immediate, underlying and management causes, plus any still in Unassigned.
Does this replace a formal incident investigation?
No. ICAM here is a structured thinking and learning aid. It does not replace a competent investigation, your organisation's incident procedures, or review by a qualified person.
Tips
- Build one chain per pathway: put the immediate cause and the underlying and management-system causes behind it on the same row.
- Push past the immediate level — most lasting fixes live in the underlying and management-system causes, so check each chain reaches them.
- On a phone, use the move menu on each card instead of dragging; the grid stacks the three levels under each chain.