{"data":{"id":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-85a-85a-2v2","jurisdiction":"us-ok","citation":"Okla. Stat. tit. 85A, § 85A-2v2","heading":"Definitions","body":"As used in the Administrative Workers’ Compensation Act:\n\n1. “Actually dependent” means a surviving spouse, a child or\n\nany other person who receives one-half (1/2) or more of his or her\n\nsupport from the employee;\n\n2. “Carrier” means any stock company, mutual company, or\n\nreciprocal or interinsurance exchange authorized to write or carry\n\non the business of workers’ compensation insurance in this state.\n\nWhenever required by the context, the term carrier shall be deemed\n\nto include duly qualified self-insureds or self-insured groups;\n\n3. “Case management” means the ongoing coordination, by a case\n\nmanager, of health care services provided to an injured or disabled\n\nworker, including but not limited to systematically monitoring the\n\ntreatment rendered and the medical progress of the injured or\n\ndisabled worker; ensuring that any treatment plan follows all\n\nappropriate treatment protocols, utilization controls and practice\n\nparameters; assessing whether alternative health care services are\n\nappropriate and delivered in a cost-effective manner based upon\n\nacceptable medical standards; and ensuring that the injured or\n\ndisabled worker is following the prescribed health care plan;\n\n4. “Case manager” means a person who is a registered nurse with\n\na current, active unencumbered license from the Oklahoma Board of\n\nNursing, or possesses one or more of the following certifications\n\nwhich indicate the individual has a minimum number of years of case\n\nmanagement experience, has passed a national competency test and\n\nregularly obtains continuing education hours to maintain\n\ncertification:\n\na. Certified Disability Management Specialist (CDMS),\n\nb. Certified Case Manager (CCM),\n\nc. Certified Rehabilitation Registered Nurse (CRRN),\n\nd. Case Manager - Certified (CMC),\n\ne. Certified Occupational Health Nurse (COHN), or\n\nf. Certified Occupational Health Nurse Specialist (COHN-\n\nS);\n\n5. “Certified workplace medical plan” means an organization of\n\nhealth care providers or any other entity, certified by the State\n\nCommissioner of Health, that is authorized to enter into a\n\ncontractual agreement with an employer, a group self-insurance\n\nassociation plan, an employer’s workers’ compensation insurance\n\ncarrier, a third-party administrator or an insured to provide\n\nmedical care under the Administrative Workers’ Compensation Act.\n\nCertified plans shall only include plans which provide medical\n\nservices and payment for services on a fee-for-service basis to\n\nmedical providers;\n\n6. “Child” means a natural or adopted son or daughter of the\n\nemployee under eighteen (18) years of age; or a natural or adopted\n\nson or daughter of an employee eighteen (18) years of age or over\n\nwho is physically or mentally incapable of self-support; or any\n\nnatural or adopted son or daughter of an employee eighteen (18)\n\nyears of age or over who is actually dependent; or any natural or\n\nadopted son or daughter of an employee between eighteen (18) and\n\ntwenty-three (23) years of age who is enrolled as a full-time\n\nstudent in any accredited educational institution. The term child\n\nincludes a posthumous child, a child legally adopted or one for whom\n\nadoption proceedings are pending at the time of death, an actually\n\ndependent stepchild or an actually dependent acknowledged child born\n\nout of wedlock;\n\n7. “Claimant” means a person who claims benefits for an injury\n\nor occupational disease pursuant to the provisions of the\n\nAdministrative Workers’ Compensation Act;\n\n8. “Commission” means the Oklahoma Workers’ Compensation\n\nCommission;\n\n9. a. “Compensable injury” means damage or harm to the\n\nphysical structure of the body, or damage or harm to\n\nprosthetic appliances, including eyeglasses, contact\n\nlenses, or hearing aids, of which the major cause is\n\neither an accident, cumulative trauma or occupational\n\ndisease arising out of the course and scope of\nion Act;\n\n8. “Commission” means the Oklahoma Workers’ Compensation\n\nCommission;\n\n9. a. “Compensable injury” means damage or harm to the\n\nphysical structure of the body, or damage or harm to\n\nprosthetic appliances, including eyeglasses, contact\n\nlenses, or hearing aids, of which the major cause is\n\neither an accident, cumulative trauma or occupational\n\ndisease arising out of the course and scope of\n\nemployment. An “accident” means an event involving\n\nfactors external to the employee that:\n\n(1) was unintended, unanticipated, unforeseen,\n\nunplanned and unexpected,\n\n(2) occurred at a specifically identifiable time and\n\nplace,\n\n(3) occurred by chance or from unknown causes, or\n\n(4) was independent of sickness, mental incapacity,\n\nbodily infirmity or any other cause.\n\nb. Compensable injury does not include:\n\n(1) injury to any active participant in assaults or\n\ncombats which, although they may occur in the\n\nworkplace, are the result of non-employment-\n\nrelated hostility or animus of one, both, or all\n\nof the combatants and which assault or combat\n\namounts to a deviation from customary duties;\n\nprovided, however, injuries caused by horseplay\n\nshall not be considered to be compensable\n\ninjuries, except for innocent victims,\n\n(2) injury incurred while engaging in or performing\n\nor as the result of engaging in or performing any\n\nrecreational or social activities for the\n\nemployee’s personal pleasure,\n\n(3) injury which was inflicted on the employee at a\n\ntime when employment services were not being\n\nperformed or before the employee was hired or\n\nafter the employment relationship was terminated,\n\n(4) injury if the accident was caused by the use of\n\nalcohol, illegal drugs, or prescription drugs\n\nused in contravention of physician’s orders. If\n\na biological specimen is collected within twenty-\n\nfour (24) hours of the employee being injured or\n\nreporting an injury, or if at any time after the\n\ninjury a biological specimen is collected by the\n\nOffice of the Chief Medical Examiner if the\n\ninjured employee does not survive for at least\n\ntwenty-four (24) hours after the injury and the\n\nemployee tests positive for intoxication, an\n\nillegal controlled substance, or a legal\n\ncontrolled substance used in contravention to a\n\ntreating physician’s orders, or refuses to\n\nundergo the drug and alcohol testing, there shall\n\nbe a rebuttable presumption that the injury was\n\ncaused by the use of alcohol, illegal drugs, or\n\nprescription drugs used in contravention of\n\nphysician’s orders. This presumption may only be\n\novercome if the employee proves by clear and\n\nconvincing evidence that his or her state of\n\nintoxication had no causal relationship to the\n\ninjury,\n\n(5) any strain, degeneration, damage or harm to, or\n\ndisease or condition of, the eye or\n\nmusculoskeletal structure or other body part\n\nresulting from the natural results of aging,\n\nosteoarthritis, arthritis, or degenerative\n\nprocess including, but not limited to,\n\ndegenerative joint disease, degenerative disc\n\ndisease, degenerative\n\nspondylosis/spondylolisthesis and spinal\n\nstenosis, or\ninjury,\n\n(5) any strain, degeneration, damage or harm to, or\n\ndisease or condition of, the eye or\n\nmusculoskeletal structure or other body part\n\nresulting from the natural results of aging,\n\nosteoarthritis, arthritis, or degenerative\n\nprocess including, but not limited to,\n\ndegenerative joint disease, degenerative disc\n\ndisease, degenerative\n\nspondylosis/spondylolisthesis and spinal\n\nstenosis, or\n\n(6) any preexisting condition except when the\n\ntreating physician clearly confirms an\n\nidentifiable and significant aggravation incurred\n\nin the course and scope of employment.\n\nc. A compensable injury shall be established by medical\n\nevidence supported by objective findings as defined in\n\nparagraph 31 of this section.\n\nd. The injured employee shall prove by a preponderance of\n\nthe evidence that he or she has suffered a compensable\n\ninjury.\n\ne. Benefits shall not be payable for a condition which\n\nresults from a non-work-related independent\n\nintervening cause following a compensable injury which\n\ncauses or prolongs disability or aggravation or\n\nrequires treatment. A non-work-related independent\n\nintervening cause does not require negligence or\n\nrecklessness on the part of a claimant.\n\nf. An employee who suffers a compensable injury shall be\n\nentitled to receive compensation as prescribed in the\n\nAdministrative Workers’ Compensation Act.\n\nNotwithstanding other provisions of law, if it is\n\ndetermined that a compensable injury did not occur,\n\nthe employee shall not be entitled to compensation\n\nunder the Administrative Workers’ Compensation Act;\n\n10. “Compensation” means the money allowance payable to the\n\nemployee or to his or her dependents and includes the medical\n\nservices and supplies provided for in Section 50 of this title and\n\nfuneral expenses;\n\n11. “Consequential injury” means injury or harm to a part of\n\nthe body that is a direct result of the injury or medical treatment\n\nto the part of the body originally injured in the claim. The\n\nCommission shall not make a finding of a consequential injury unless\n\nit is established by objective medical evidence that medical\n\ntreatment for such part of the body is required;\n\n12. “Continuing medical maintenance” means medical treatment\n\nthat is reasonable and necessary to maintain a claimant’s condition\n\nresulting from the compensable injury or illness after reaching\n\nmaximum medical improvement. Continuing medical maintenance shall\n\nnot include diagnostic tests, surgery, injections, counseling,\n\nphysical therapy, or pain management devices or equipment;\n\n13. “Course and scope of employment” means an activity of any\n\nkind or character for which the employee was hired and that relates\n\nto and derives from the work, business, trade or profession of an\n\nemployer, and is performed by an employee in the furtherance of the\n\naffairs or business of an employer. The term includes activities\n\nconducted on the premises of an employer or at other locations\n\ndesignated by an employer and travel by an employee in furtherance\n\nof the affairs of an employer that is specifically directed by the\n\nemployer. This term does not include:\n\na. an employee’s transportation to and from his or her\n\nplace of employment,\n\nb. travel by an employee in furtherance of the affairs of\n\nan employer if the travel is also in furtherance of\n\npersonal or private affairs of the employee,\n\nc. any injury occurring in a parking lot or other common\n\narea adjacent to an employer’s place of business\n\nbefore the employee clocks in or otherwise begins work\n\nfor the employer or after the employee clocks out or\n\notherwise stops work for the employer unless the\n\nemployer owns or maintains exclusive control over the\n\narea, or\n\nd. any injury occurring while an employee is on a work\n\nbreak, unless the injury occurs while the employee is\n\non a work break inside the employer’s facility or in\n\nan area owned by or exclusively controlled by the\nise begins work\n\nfor the employer or after the employee clocks out or\n\notherwise stops work for the employer unless the\n\nemployer owns or maintains exclusive control over the\n\narea, or\n\nd. any injury occurring while an employee is on a work\n\nbreak, unless the injury occurs while the employee is\n\non a work break inside the employer’s facility or in\n\nan area owned by or exclusively controlled by the\n\nemployer and the work break is authorized by the\n\nemployee’s supervisor;\n\n14. “Cumulative trauma” means an injury to an employee that is\n\ncaused by the combined effect of repetitive physical activities\n\nextending over a period of time in the course and scope of\n\nemployment. Cumulative trauma shall not mean fatigue, soreness or\n\ngeneral aches and pain that may have been caused, aggravated,\n\nexacerbated or accelerated by the employee’s course and scope of\n\nemployment. Cumulative trauma shall have resulted directly and\n\nindependently of all other causes;\n\n15. “Death” means only death resulting from compensable injury\n\nas defined in paragraph 9 of this section;\n\n16. “Disability” means incapacity because of compensable injury\n\nto earn, in the same or any other employment, substantially the same\n\namount of wages the employee was receiving at the time of the\n\ncompensable injury;\n\n17. “Drive-away operations” includes every person engaged in\n\nthe business of transporting and delivering new or used vehicles by\n\ndriving, either singly or by towbar, saddle-mount or full-mount\n\nmethod, or any combination thereof, with or without towing a\n\nprivately owned vehicle;\n\n18. a. “Employee” means any person, including a minor, in the\n\nservice of an employer under any contract of hire or\n\napprenticeship, written or oral, expressed or implied,\n\nbut excluding one whose employment is casual and not\n\nin the course of the trade, business, profession, or\n\noccupation of his or her employer and excluding one\n\nwho is required to perform work for a municipality or\n\ncounty or the state or federal government on having\n\nbeen convicted of a criminal offense or while\n\nincarcerated. Employee shall also include a member of\n\nthe Oklahoma National Guard while in the performance\n\nof duties only while in response to state orders and\n\nany authorized voluntary or uncompensated worker,\n\nrendering services as a firefighter, law enforcement\n\nofficer or emergency management worker. Travel by a\n\npolice officer, fireman, or a member of a first aid or\n\nrescue squad, in responding to and returning from an\n\nemergency, shall be deemed to be in the course of\n\nemployment.\n\nb. The term employee shall not include:\n\n(1) any person for whom an employer is liable under\n\nany Act of Congress for providing compensation to\n\nemployees for injuries, disease or death arising\n\nout of and in the course of employment including,\n\nbut not limited to, the Federal Employees’\n\nCompensation Act, the Federal Employers’\n\nLiability Act, the Longshore and Harbor Workers’\n\nCompensation Act and the Jones Act, to the extent\n\nhis or her employees are subject to such acts,\nto\n\nemployees for injuries, disease or death arising\n\nout of and in the course of employment including,\n\nbut not limited to, the Federal Employees’\n\nCompensation Act, the Federal Employers’\n\nLiability Act, the Longshore and Harbor Workers’\n\nCompensation Act and the Jones Act, to the extent\n\nhis or her employees are subject to such acts,\n\n(2) any person who is employed in agriculture,\n\nranching, or horticulture by an employer who had\n\na gross annual payroll in the preceding calendar\n\nyear of less than One Hundred Fifty Thousand\n\nDollars ($150,000.00) wages for agricultural,\n\nranching or horticultural workers, or any person\n\nwho is employed in agriculture, ranching or\n\nhorticulture who is not engaged in operation of\n\nmotorized machines. This exemption applies to\n\nany period of time for which such employment\n\nexists, irrespective of whether or not the person\n\nis employed in other activities for which the\n\nexemption does not apply. If the person is\n\nemployed for part of a year in exempt activities\n\nand for part of a year in nonexempt activities,\n\nthe employer shall be responsible for providing\n\nworkers’ compensation only for the period of time\n\nfor which the person is employed in nonexempt\n\nactivities,\n\n(3) any person who is a licensed real estate sales\n\nassociate or broker, paid on a commission basis,\n\n(4) any person employed by an employer with five or\n\nfewer total employees, all of whom are related\n\nwithin the second degree by blood or marriage to\n\nthe employer, all of whom are dependents living\n\nin the household of the employer, or all of whom\n\nare a combination of such relatives and\n\ndependents. If the employer is not a natural\n\nperson such relative shall be related within the\n\nsecond degree by blood or marriage to a person\n\nwho owns fifty percent (50%) or more of the\n\nemployer, or such dependent shall be in the\n\nhousehold of a person who owns fifty percent\n\n(50%) or more of the employer,\n\n(5) any person employed by an employer which is a\n\nyouth sports league which qualifies for exemption\n\nfrom federal income taxation pursuant to federal\n\nlaw,\n\n(6) sole proprietors, members of a partnership,\n\nindividuals who are party to a franchise\n\nagreement as set out by the Federal Trade\n\nCommission franchise disclosure rule, 16 CFR\n\n436.1 through 436.11, members of a limited\n\nliability company who own at least ten percent\n\n(10%) of the capital of the limited liability\n\ncompany or any stockholder-employees of a\n\ncorporation who own ten percent (10%) or more\n\nstock in the corporation, unless they elect to be\n\ncovered by a policy of insurance covering\n\nbenefits under the Administrative Workers’\n\nCompensation Act,\n\n(7) any person providing or performing voluntary\n\nservice who receives no wages for the services\n\nother than meals, drug or alcohol rehabilitative\n\ntherapy, transportation, lodging or reimbursement\n\nfor incidental expenses except for volunteers\n\nspecifically provided for in subparagraph a of\n\nthis paragraph,\n\n(8) a person, commonly referred to as an owner-\n\noperator, who owns or leases a truck-tractor or\n\ntruck for hire, if the owner-operator actually\n\noperates the truck-tractor or truck and if the\n\nperson contracting with the owner-operator is not\n\nthe lessor of the truck-tractor or truck.\n\nProvided, however, an owner-operator shall not be\n\nprecluded from workers’ compensation coverage\n\nunder the Administrative Workers’ Compensation\n\nAct if the owner-operator elects to participate\n\nas a sole proprietor,\nfor hire, if the owner-operator actually\n\noperates the truck-tractor or truck and if the\n\nperson contracting with the owner-operator is not\n\nthe lessor of the truck-tractor or truck.\n\nProvided, however, an owner-operator shall not be\n\nprecluded from workers’ compensation coverage\n\nunder the Administrative Workers’ Compensation\n\nAct if the owner-operator elects to participate\n\nas a sole proprietor,\n\n(9) a person referred to as a drive-away owner-\n\noperator who privately owns and utilizes a tow\n\nvehicle in drive-away operations and operates\n\nindependently for hire, if the drive-away owner-\n\noperator actually utilizes the tow vehicle and if\n\nthe person contracting with the drive-away owner-\n\noperator is not the lessor of the tow vehicle.\n\nProvided, however, a drive-away owner-operator\n\nshall not be precluded from workers’ compensation\n\ncoverage under the Administrative Workers’\n\nCompensation Act if the drive-away owner-operator\n\nelects to participate as a sole proprietor,\n\n(10) any person who is employed as a domestic servant\n\nor as a casual worker in and about a private home\n\nor household, which private home or household had\n\na gross annual payroll in the preceding calendar\n\nyear of less than Fifty Thousand Dollars\n\n($50,000.00) for such workers, and\n\n(11) any person who is a dependent child of an owner\n\nof a farm, ranch, livestock market, or other\n\nagricultural business and the dependent child is\n\nemployed by such;\n\n19. “Employer” means a natural person, partnership,\n\nassociation, limited liability company, corporation, and the legal\n\nrepresentatives of a deceased employer, or the receiver or trustee\n\nof a person, partnership, association, corporation, or limited\n\nliability company, departments, instrumentalities and institutions\n\nof this state and divisions thereof, counties and divisions thereof,\n\npublic trusts, boards of education and incorporated cities or towns\n\nand divisions thereof, employing a person included within the term\n\nemployee as defined in this section. Employer may also mean the\n\nemployer’s workers’ compensation insurance carrier, if applicable.\n\nExcept as provided otherwise, the Administrative Workers’\n\nCompensation Act applies to all public and private entities and\n\ninstitutions;\n\n20. “Employment” includes work or labor in a trade, business,\n\noccupation or activity carried on by an employer or any authorized\n\nvoluntary or uncompensated worker rendering services as a\n\nfirefighter, peace officer or emergency management worker;\n\n21. “Evidence-based” means expert-based, literature-supported\n\nand outcomes validated by well-designed randomized trials when such\n\ninformation is available and which uses the best available evidence\n\nto support medical decision making;\n\n22. “Gainful employment” means the capacity to perform\n\nemployment for wages for a period of time that is not part-time,\n\noccasional or sporadic;\n\n23. “Impaired self-insurer” means a private self-insurer or\n\ngroup self-insurance association that fails to pay its workers’\n\ncompensation obligations, or is financially unable to do so and is\n\nthe subject of any proceeding under the Federal Bankruptcy Reform\n\nAct of 1978, and any subsequent amendments or is the subject of any\n\nproceeding in which a receiver, custodian, liquidator,\n\nrehabilitator, trustee or similar officer has been appointed by a\n\ncourt of competent jurisdiction to act in lieu of or on behalf of\n\nthe self-insurer;\n\n24. “Incapacity” means inadequate strength or ability to\n\nperform a work-related task;\n\n25. “Insurance Commissioner” means the Insurance Commissioner\n\nof this state;\n\n26. “Insurance Department” means the Insurance Department of\n\nthis state;\n\n27. “Major cause” means more than fifty percent (50%) of the\n\nresulting injury, disease or illness. A finding of major cause\n\nshall be established by a preponderance of the evidence. A finding\n\nthat the workplace was not a major cause of the injury, disease or\nCommissioner” means the Insurance Commissioner\n\nof this state;\n\n26. “Insurance Department” means the Insurance Department of\n\nthis state;\n\n27. “Major cause” means more than fifty percent (50%) of the\n\nresulting injury, disease or illness. A finding of major cause\n\nshall be established by a preponderance of the evidence. A finding\n\nthat the workplace was not a major cause of the injury, disease or\n\nillness shall not adversely affect the exclusive remedy provisions\n\nof the Administrative Workers’ Compensation Act and shall not create\n\na separate cause of action outside the Administrative Workers’\n\nCompensation Act;\n\n28. “Maximum medical improvement” means that no further\n\nmaterial improvement would reasonably be expected from medical\n\ntreatment or the passage of time;\n\n29. “Medical services” means those services specified in\n\nSection 50 of this title;\n\n30. “Misconduct” shall include the following:\n\na. unexplained absenteeism or tardiness,\n\nb. willful or wanton indifference to or neglect of the\n\nduties required,\n\nc. willful or wanton breach of any duty required by the\n\nemployer,\n\nd. the mismanagement of a position of employment by\n\naction or inaction,\n\ne. actions or omissions that place in jeopardy the\n\nhealth, life, or property of self or others,\n\nf. dishonesty,\n\ng. wrongdoing,\n\nh. violation of a law, or\n\ni. violation of a policy or rule adopted to ensure\n\norderly work or the safety of self or others;\n\n31. a. (1) “Objective findings” are those findings which\n\ncannot come under the voluntary control of the\n\npatient.\n\n(2) (a) When determining permanent disability, a\n\nphysician, any other medical provider, an\n\nadministrative law judge, the Commission or\n\nthe courts shall not consider complaints of\n\npain.\n\n(b) For the purpose of making permanent\n\ndisability ratings to the spine, physicians\n\nshall use criteria established by the Sixth\n\nEdition of the American Medical Association\n\n“Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent\n\nImpairment”.\n\n(3) (a) Objective evidence necessary to prove\n\npermanent disability in occupational hearing\n\nloss cases may be established by medically\n\nrecognized and accepted clinical diagnostic\n\nmethodologies, including, but not limited\n\nto, audiological tests that measure air and\n\nbone conduction thresholds and speech\n\ndiscrimination ability.\n\n(b) Any difference in the baseline hearing\n\nlevels shall be confirmed by subsequent\n\ntesting; provided, however, such test shall\n\nbe given within four (4) weeks of the\n\ninitial baseline hearing level test but not\n\nbefore five (5) days after being adjusted\n\nfor presbycusis.\n\nb. Medical opinions addressing compensability and\n\npermanent disability shall be stated within a\n\nreasonable degree of medical certainty;\n\n32. “Official Disability Guidelines” or “ODG” means the current\n\nedition of the Official Disability Guidelines and the ODG Treatment\n\nin Workers’ Comp as published by the Work Loss Data Institute;\n\n33. “Permanent disability” means the extent, expressed as a\n\npercentage, of the loss of a portion of the total physiological\n\ncapabilities of the human body as established by competent medical\n\nevidence and based on the Sixth Edition of the American Medical\n\nAssociation “Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment”, if\n\nthe impairment is contained therein;\n\n34. “Permanent partial disability” means a permanent disability\n\nor loss of use after maximum medical improvement has been reached\n\nwhich prevents the injured employee, who has been released to return\n\nto work by the treating physician, from returning to his or her pre-\n\ninjury or equivalent job. All evaluations of permanent partial\n\ndisability must be supported by objective findings;\n\n35. “Permanent total disability” means, based on objective\n\nfindings, incapacity, based upon accidental injury or occupational\n\ndisease, to earn wages in any employment for which the employee may\nleased to return\n\nto work by the treating physician, from returning to his or her pre-\n\ninjury or equivalent job. All evaluations of permanent partial\n\ndisability must be supported by objective findings;\n\n35. “Permanent total disability” means, based on objective\n\nfindings, incapacity, based upon accidental injury or occupational\n\ndisease, to earn wages in any employment for which the employee may\n\nbecome physically suited and reasonably fitted by education,\n\ntraining, experience or vocational rehabilitation provided under the\n\nAdministrative Workers’ Compensation Act. Loss of both hands, both\n\nfeet, both legs, or both eyes, or any two thereof, shall constitute\n\npermanent total disability;\n\n36. “Preexisting condition” means any illness, injury, disease,\n\nor other physical or mental condition, whether or not work-related,\n\nfor which medical advice, diagnosis, care or treatment was\n\nrecommended or received preceding the date of injury;\n\n37. “Pre-injury or equivalent job” means the job that the\n\nclaimant was working for the employer at the time the injury\n\noccurred or any other employment offered by the claimant’s employer\n\nthat pays at least one hundred percent (100%) of the employee’s\n\naverage weekly wage;\n\n38. “Private self-insurer” means a private employer that has\n\nbeen authorized to self-insure its workers’ compensation obligations\n\npursuant to the Administrative Workers’ Compensation Act, but does\n\nnot include group self-insurance associations authorized by the\n\nAdministrative Workers’ Compensation Act, or any public employer\n\nthat self-insures pursuant to the Administrative Workers’\n\nCompensation Act;\n\n39. “Prosthetic” means an artificial device used to replace a\n\npart or joint of the body that is lost or injured in an accident or\n\nillness covered by the Administrative Workers’ Compensation Act;\n\n40. “Scheduled member” or “member” means hands, fingers, arms,\n\nlegs, feet, toes, and eyes. In addition, for purposes of the\n\nMultiple Injury Trust Fund only, scheduled member means hearing\n\nimpairment;\n\n41. “Scientifically based” involves the application of\n\nrigorous, systematic, and objective procedures to obtain reliable\n\nand valid knowledge relevant to medical testing, diagnoses and\n\ntreatment; is adequate to justify the general conclusions drawn; and\n\nhas been accepted by a peer-review journal or approved by a panel of\n\nindependent experts through a comparably rigorous, objective, and\n\nscientific review;\n\n42. “State average weekly wage” means the state average weekly\n\nwage determined by the Oklahoma Employment Security Commission in\n\nthe preceding calendar year. If such determination is not\n\navailable, the Commission shall determine the wage annually after\n\nreasonable investigation;\n\n43. “Subcontractor” means a person, firm, corporation or other\n\nlegal entity hired by the general or prime contractor to perform a\n\nspecific task for the completion of a work-related activity;\n\n44. “Surgery” does not include an injection, or the forcing of\n\nfluids beneath the skin, for treatment or diagnosis;\n\n45. “Surviving spouse” means the employee’s spouse by reason of\n\na legal marriage recognized by this state or under the requirements\n\nof a common law marriage in this state, as determined by the\n\nOklahoma Workers’ Compensation Commission;\n\n46. “Temporary partial disability” means an injured employee\n\nwho is temporarily unable to perform his or her job, but may perform\n\nalternative work offered by the employer;\n\n47. “Time of accident” or “date of accident” means the time or\n\ndate of the occurrence of the accidental incident from which\n\ncompensable injury, disability, or death results; and\n\n48. “Wages” means money compensation received for employment at\n\nthe time of the accident, including the reasonable value of board,\n\nrent, housing, lodging, or similar advantage received from the\n\nemployer and includes the amount of tips required to be reported by\nmeans the time or\n\ndate of the occurrence of the accidental incident from which\n\ncompensable injury, disability, or death results; and\n\n48. “Wages” means money compensation received for employment at\n\nthe time of the accident, including the reasonable value of board,\n\nrent, housing, lodging, or similar advantage received from the\n\nemployer and includes the amount of tips required to be reported by\n\nthe employer under Section 6053 of the Internal Revenue Code and the\n\nregulations promulgated pursuant thereto or the amount of actual\n\ntips reported, whichever amount is greater.","path":["OK Code","Title 85A"],"source_url":"https://www.oklegislature.gov/OK_Statutes/CompleteTitles/os85A.pdf","current_through":"2026-08-14","vintage":"open-us-law v2026.08, retrieved 2026-09-14","retrieved_at":"2026-09-14T18:32:36Z","sha256":"0db4766318347e69a7f9cd1b090e3362923a5904cced2c50d2f95b4862ac7a9d","source_id":"us-ok","stale":false,"prev":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-85a-85a-2v1","next":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-85a-85a-3"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}