(A) As used in sections 4121.01 to 4121.29 of the Revised Code:

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(1) “Place of employment” means every place, whether indoors or out, or underground, and the premises appurtenant thereto, where either temporarily or permanently any industry, trade, or business is carried on, or where any process or operation, directly or indirectly related to any industry, trade, or business, is carried on and where any person is directly or indirectly employed by another for direct or indirect gain or profit, but does not include any place where persons are employed in private domestic service or agricultural pursuits which do not involve the use of mechanical power.

(2) “Employment” means any trade, occupation, or process of manufacture or any method of carrying on such trade, occupation, or process of manufacture in which any person may be engaged, except in such private domestic service or agricultural pursuits as do not involve the use of mechanical power.

(3) “Employer” means every person, firm, corporation, agent, manager, representative, or other person having control or custody of any employment, place of employment, or employee. “Employer” does not include a franchisor with respect to the franchisor’s relationship with a franchisee or an employee of a franchisee, unless the franchisor agrees to assume that role in writing or a court of competent jurisdiction determines that the franchisor exercises a type or degree of control over the franchisee or the franchisee’s employees that is not customarily exercised by a franchisor for the purpose of protecting the franchisor’s trademark, brand, or both. For purposes of this division, “franchisor” and “franchisee” have the same meanings as in 16 C.F.R. § 436.1.

(4)(a) “Employee” means a person who may be required or directed by any employer, in consideration of direct or indirect gain or profit, to engage in any employment, or to go, or work, or be at any time in any place of employment, including a person described in division (A)(4)(b) of this section if a motor carrier elects to consider the person to be an employee.

(b) “Employee” does not include a person who operates a vehicle or vessel in the performance of services for or on behalf of a motor carrier transporting property and to whom all of the following factors apply:

(i) The person owns the vehicle or vessel that is used in performing the services for or on behalf of the carrier, or the person leases the vehicle or vessel under a bona fide lease agreement that is not a temporary replacement lease agreement. For purposes of this division, a bona fide lease agreement does not include an agreement between the person and the motor carrier transporting property for which, or on whose behalf, the person provides services.

(ii) The person is responsible for supplying the necessary personal services to operate the vehicle or vessel used to provide the service.

(iii) The compensation paid to the person is based on factors related to work performed, including on a mileage-based rate or a percentage of any schedule of rates, and not solely on the basis of the hours or time expended.

(iv) The person substantially controls the means and manner of performing the services, in conformance with regulatory requirements and specifications of the shipper.

(v) The person enters into a written contract with the carrier for whom the person is performing the services that describes the relationship between the person and the carrier to be that of an independent contractor and not that of an employee.

(vi) The person is responsible for substantially all of the principal operating costs of the vehicle or vessel and equipment used to provide the services, including maintenance, fuel, repairs, supplies, vehicle or vessel insurance, and personal expenses, except that the person may be paid by the carrier the carrier’s fuel surcharge and incidental costs, including tolls, permits, and lumper fees.

(vii) The person is responsible for any economic loss or economic gain from the arrangement with the carrier.

(5) “Frequenter” means every person, other than an employee, who may go in or be in a place of employment under circumstances which render the person other than a trespasser.

(6) “Deputy” means any person employed by the industrial commission or the bureau of workers’ compensation, designated as a deputy by the commission or the administrator of workers’ compensation, who possesses special, technical, scientific, managerial, professional, or personal abilities or qualities in matters within the jurisdiction of the commission or the bureau, and who may be engaged in the performance of duties under the direction of the commission or the bureau calling for the exercise of such abilities or qualities.

(7) “Order” means any decision, rule, regulation, direction, requirement, or standard, or any other determination or decision that the bureau is empowered to and does make.

(8) “General order” means an order that applies generally throughout the state to all persons, employments, or places of employment, or all persons, employments, or places of employment of a class under the jurisdiction of the bureau. All other orders shall be considered special orders.

(9) “Local order” means any ordinance, order, rule, or determination of the legislative authority of any municipal corporation, or any trustees, or board or officers of any municipal corporation upon any matter over which the bureau has jurisdiction.

(10) “Welfare” means comfort, decency, and moral well-being.

(11) “Safe” or “safety,” as applied to any employment or a place of employment, means such freedom from danger to the life, health, safety, or welfare of employees or frequenters as the nature of the employment will reasonably permit, including requirements as to the hours of labor with relation to the health and welfare of employees.

(12) “Employee organization” means any labor or bona fide organization in which employees participate and that exists for the purpose, in whole or in part, of dealing with employers concerning grievances, labor disputes, wages, hours, terms, and other conditions of employment.

(13) “Motor carrier” has the same meaning as in section 4923.01 of the Revised Code.

(B) As used in the Revised Code:

(1) “Industrial commission” means the chairperson of the three-member industrial commission created pursuant to section 4121.02 of the Revised Code when the context refers to the authority vested in the chairperson as the chief executive officer of the three-member industrial commission pursuant to divisions (A), (B), (C), and (D) of section 4121.03 of the Revised Code.

(2) “Industrial commission” means the three-member industrial commission created pursuant to section 4121.02 of the Revised Code when the context refers to the authority vested in the three-member industrial commission pursuant to division (E) of section 4121.03 of the Revised Code.

(3) “Industrial commission” means the industrial commission as a state agency when the context refers to the authority vested in the industrial commission as a state agency.