The Loss Causation Model

You Open My Eyes

You open the eyes of my spirit
To see new treasures
Along the path
Of my walk with you;
You open the eyes of my heart
And enlighten me
With the hope that surrounds your calling
And the richness that you are;
You trust me enough
To reveal your secrets and mysteries to me
Knowing I will use it
For the purpose you want of me;
You spend quality time
Teaching me
The Truth
And the truth;
And now I know
That my walk with you
Is forward and upward
With revelation and understanding.

The Inspiration
You have not heard from me in a while now. I was on a course. I didn’t have the best of internet connectivity. I didn’t have time at all. All I told God was, “You have taken me away from writing. I am not happy about it at all.” HE definitely replied but I was too stuck up in my emotions that I did not hear anything. HE must have said, “Wait on ME, I want to show you something!”

My course was on QHSE - Quality, Health, Safety and Environment. I learnt so much from the course and from the people I met. If I start on this, I will have another novel in the pipeline. I’m sure you’re not ready for that here. This message is a bit technical but if you are patient enough, you will get the treasure in this story.

One of the most important things I took out of that course was the Loss Causation Model. Before a loss occurs (Injury, illness, damage, loss in process), there are series of events that take place with a root cause that begins this series of events. The root cause is called a Lack of Control (Inadequate standards, lack of compliance for preparedness, knowledge and skill training, etc). This leads to a basic cause (or personal factor) such as lack of knowledge, stress, inadequate capabilities. This in turn leads to an Immediate cause (substandard conditions and actions) such as operating without authority, working under the influence of controlled substances, inadequate barriers. This then leads to an Incident – a fall, a strike, stress, or being in contact with an unfriendly environment. The incidence leads to the loss. The concept of the Loss Causation Model, hence is that when a loss occurs, we need to go back that chain, realize that the root cause is not the incident nor the immediate cause, and solve the problem from the root cause in order to prevent the loss from reoccurring.

Let’s take a simple example. Someone is hospitalized because of Malaria. That is the loss (time, money, etc). The Incident – being bitten by a mosquito with plasmodium. The Immediate Cause – Sitting outside in the evening without adequate protective clothing. Basic Cause – Lack of knowledge of the implications of sitting outside in the evening without the right clothing. Lack of Control – The information was not communicated (Lack of compliance for communication). Many a times, when handling a “loss”, we usually target the immediate cause. This is only a temporal solution. Going down to the roots is the permanent solution to the problem.

This Loss Causation Model can be applied to so many areas of our lives. Someone dies of lung cancer and we say the cause is smoking (that is the immediate cause) but in truth there is more to this. What about falling into temptation? A spouse cheats. We say it is because of temptation. Again if we look deep into this issue, we will find out that there is more to this. Unless the root causes are identified and treated, such things are likely to occur again.

I want you to open your eyes to look at the malaria example again. Loss - Someone is hospitalized because of malaria. Incident – Struck by the enemy (illness is not from God therefore…). Immediate cause – Operating without authority (if you went to someone’s land and started operating, the person has every right to do with you as he pleases. If you have authority, then you can even take the land from the person). Basic cause – Lack of Knowledge (My people are destroyed because of lack of knowledge [Hosea 4:6]). Lack of Control – Inadequate Standards. Standard means the ideal in terms of which something can be judged; established or widely recognized as a model of authority or excellence. My Spirit is quickened.

God had years ago evaluated HIS Loss Causation Model and provided ADEQUATE STANDARD and basis for compliance to prevent loss in mankind. HIS Word (the bible which HE inspired) makes us compliant. HIS Son, Jesus Christ, is the Standard HE put in place to ensure there is no loss to mankind. All other means were inadequate. Jesus Christ is the Way, the Truth and The Life [John 14:6]. Knowing the truth sets us free [John 8:32]. We will not be destroyed by lack of knowledge. Having Jesus Christ as your standard against loss and the Word of God to be compliant with, you do not find yourself in lack of knowledge that HE has died for you and HE has overcome the world [John 16:33]. This in turn eliminates operating without authority (Immediate cause) for we were given dominion over everything on earth [Gen 1:26]. We also have the power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt us [Luke 10:19]. Then we will not get struck by the enemy (this does not mean the enemy will not attack but our Standard, our Word of God, our authority will give us enough courage to face the enemy). That way, we are far from having a loss.

You might ask, “What does it mean when a loss occurs even though we have been doing things right?” This is not a time to blame God, yourself or “the people in the village”. Ever since God gave us dominion over everything on earth, the enemy has been trying to take it from us. The battle continues. What is true is that years ago God identified that the cause of loss/death is sin, HE sent HIS son to take away all our sins and die with them, and even when there is a physical loss, it is not entirely a loss because it was a spiritual battle fought and won, of which we enjoy the fruit of His salvation in the physical realm.

I could go on and on about this, but I have to stop here. I thank God that I learnt something about HIM from the course. I thank God for HIS infinite wisdom to put in place the Standard that will help us remain in check and prevent us from falling victims to loss.

Have a lovely day. You are a victor not a victim.