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Risk Management Administrator
Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority Philadelphia

Teasing workers' comp injury data out of SEPTA's mainframe helped managers curb accidents.

By 2003, the workers' compensation department of the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority had been very successful in reducing the number of open claims using normal, solid claims management techniques.

"But we needed a push to begin moving to higher ground in the program," said one key executive in the program.

Enter Michael Wissman, risk management administrator of SEPTA.

His colleagues credit Wissman with developing a clear trend analysis program that was able to identify the top 10 positions involved in work injuries that could be pursued through a preventative versus a reactive program.

"That's what turned things around," said the key executive. "Thanks to Mike's excellent trend analysis data, we were able to develop a preventative rather than a reactive program as in the past."

"I developed an employee injury trending database that filtered large amounts of injury data into user-friendly statistics, right down to affected body parts, activities that lead to injuries, years of service prior to injury, lost days, monthly/yearly comparisons, occupation and repeat employees," said Wissman.

Wissman's sweeping impact at SEPTA started in earnest when he was named head of risk management.

"When I was hired into this position in 2003, I noticed that SEPTA had a lot of data stored in mainframes but nothing useful for the end users--nothing that you could just pick up and at a glance get an idea of where our exposures are taking place," he said.

"My background prior to being named risk management administrator helped on this score. I was in accounting in the revenue collections department," he said.

"When in the revenue collections department, I developed a lot of trends in (Microsoft) Excel to identify where our cash-flow problems were. So I had the background," he explained.

Wissman soon put together some tests with Microsoft Access databases of body-part injuries.

"My wife is a nurse, so initially she helped with that," he said. "Once I was able to get past the testing phase of being able to have data that was gathered from the mainframe into Access and then converted over to Excel, it was a snap. I just needed to know what we were looking at: I would want to see years of service, years prior to the injury, costs associated with the workers' comp claim, things like that."

Added Wissman: "In this workers' comp trending database I put together, it actually has the ability to filter down to the individual, and you can track their career at SEPTA."

The database has had a positive effect on a variety of safety programs as well as the system's workers' comp operation.

"One of the important things we've done is create report cards for front-line people based on our trend analysis work," said a colleague of Wissman. "It has become a competitive tool."

The next important venture is to conduct ergonomic assessments of various positions and share this information with the safety and training departments in an attempt to re-engineer the way their staff members perform daily tasks to prevent injuries from occurring in the first place.

In addition, one of the results of Wissman's trend analysis work is the development of video job analyses for each job that will be shared with physicians, lawyers and judges in the event of litigated claims. Several of these have been done already.

The management of the workers' comp department will be meeting with the bus maintenance management/engineering group to review the ergonomic assessments to see how buses can be retooled to make them safer to operate.

Personally, said one of his co-workers, Wissman is smart, energetic and gets along with everybody. "He can talk to people at a lot of different levels, including workers in our shops."

Added this person: "He has a young guy's love of sports. He's a good listener, which really makes partnerships at our system work."

--By Steve Yahn

Consultant
DriveCam Inc.
San Diego

A small camera lets drivers see how they're doing, and results can be used in court to defend them.

In the process of turning a product into a service over the past two years, Bruce Moeller has created a growing nationwide business.

Moeller--former president and CEO of San Diego-based DriveCam Inc.--has refined a product for individual and fleet drivers that, when it corrects driving behavior, "always will result in a 90 percent reduction in workers' compensation, property and casualty costs."

The product is a mounted camera with an inward and outward facing lens that tracks two dozen driving behaviors, capturing 12-second time frames that get fed back to the company's video center for review.

"They let you or your company know whether you're a high-, medium- or low-risk driver," said Moeller.

The information-analysis center is known as DriveCam, launched two years ago (previously, the company just sold the product). Moeller retired as its president and CEO in June 2008 and now serves as a shareholder and consultant.

DriveCam is already the largest knowledge base in the world for providing insight into risky driving based on actual driving behavior with about 100,000 mounted cameras installed. There is a monthly fee of $60 for the camera and the review procedure.

After joining DriveCam in 2004, it was Moeller's decision to go from product to process.

"Considering the product, I said, 'This is a gold mine if we put in an inward-looking camera and then modify the behavior of the driver to avoid accidents in the first place," said Moeller, who has a background in behavioral management (he is the author of a book titled Oh, Behave written for anyone who has employees).

Moeller emphasized an additional value to the DriveCam service: Because it records any hazardous activity, video results can be used in court to defend a client who is involved in a legal dispute.

Doug Carlisle, managing director of Menlo Ventures in Menlo Park, Calif., noted that the cameras have built a body of information. In some cases, people actually rush onto a public bus involved in an accident in order to try to make an injury claim. DriveCam has been successful in helping companies defend themselves in lawsuits.

Carlisle cited a case in Texas in which a car driver back up into a truck and claimed the truck rear-ended him. With footage from DriveCam, the trucker's company was able to win a fraud case against the driver of the car.

Moeller recently published his second book, Driving Me Crazy. This book is a collection of Moeller's own observations, reflections, stories and commentaries about the driving culture in the United States.

Though Moeller has a low-key manner, all those who know him well are quick to note that he is "passionate" about lowering the 43,000 traffic fatalities that occur in the United States each year.

To date, DriveCam has reduced vehicle damages, workers' compensation and personal injury costs by more than 50 percent in more than 100,000 commercial, government and consumer vehicles.

"Bruce is really dedicated to the goal of reducing vehicle accidents and improving safety," said Carlisle. "He's very passionate about this cause," added Carlisle, who is an investor in the company.

"There are so many vehicle accidents in this country that are preventable with additional driver training, education and constant focus on remaining safe," noted Carlisle.

He added, "Bruce does a great job of articulating the right approach. He helps keep a constant vigil."

Carlisle stressed the pioneering nature of both the audio and video nature of the DriveCam product, underscoring that he was attracted to Moeller's emphasis on doing a social good but also his earnestness in helping businesses maintain a better bottom line.

Added Kathleen Glass, director of marketing at DriveCam: "Bruce has a very unique approach to people. He knows that the leader has to be a visionary, has to provide the spark. He is passionate in a very human way."

--By Steve Yahn

Under Bruce Moeller's leadership, DriveCam Inc. was a "safe driving" crusade, as well as a marketer of a product that trained individuals and corporate fleets on how to drive better. Moeller proactively reached out to a range of influencers across the country, from youth to highway safety organizations, challenging everyone to improve risky driving behavior.

Moeller's dedication to reducing road fatalities created an environment at DriveCam where every employee shared the conviction that their work can and does save lives. In addition to his work at DriveCam, Moeller recently published his second book, Driving Me Crazy, another medium to effect change. The book is a collection of Moeller's own observations, reflections, stories and commentary on the driving culture in America.