Workers' compensation at a glance

• The 10 judges who currently hear workers' comp cases would be replaced by a panel of law judges, each of whom is appointed by a trio of commissioners. The commissioners would be appointed by the governor, subject to Senate approval.

• In the so-called “Oklahoma Option,” qualified employers would be able to opt out of the entire system and instead develop their own employee compensation insurance or develop a compact system with other employers. The “option” would require employers, however, to provide the same level of benefits as under the statutory program.

• An arbitration system is built into the new law that would allow for many compensation disputes to be resolved in mediation and without ever going before an administrative judge.

• Language in the proposed legislation would reduce the window to file a claim from two years to one and would require “cumulative injury” claims — a type of injury that arises from the repetition of traumatic tasks — to be filed within 90 days of the trauma's manifestation instead of within two years of the last day of employment.