In Step 4 of the Sequence of Events: Why Method, the preceding events can take one of two forms. Which are they?

• A. Something that happened that should not have happened; or something that did not happen but should have.
• B. Something that happened and should have happened; something that did not happen and should not have happened.
• C. A direct cause and an indirect cause
• D. A corrective action and a preventive action

Answer: (A)

In this step, you’re looking at what happened before the incident and organizing those events into two kinds. First, there are events that occurred but shouldn’t have—these are missteps, violations, or errors that helped push things toward the outcome. Second, there are events that didn’t happen but should have—these are missing steps, safeguards, or controls that, if present, would likely have prevented the incident.

This framing is the best fit because it directly captures both sides of what can drive an incident: actual wrong actions that occurred and missing actions that should have occurred. It keeps the focus on the content of the events themselves, not on later analysis or on the results after the incident. The other options shift toward causal relationships or post-incident actions, which aren’t what this step is about.