West Virginia Code of State Rules › Agency 6 - Funeral Service Examiners › Title 6 - LEGISLATIVE RULE BOARD OF FUNERAL SERVICE EXAMINERS › Series 6-02 - Crematory Requirements › Section 6-2-2 - Definitions

Current through Register Vol. XLI, No. 28, July 12, 2024
For the purposes of this rule, the following terms have the
				  following meaning unless the context in which they are used requires a
				  different meaning.
2.1. "Advertise"
				and "advertising" means the use of radio, television, internet, including
				social media and web pages, billboards, stationery, contracts, price lists,
				calendars, fans and novelty advertising, or any other advertising method or
				medium.
2.2. "Agent" means a person
				who acts as a representative of the crematory.
2.3. "Alkaline Hydrolysis" means the
				reduction of a dead human body to essential elements through a water-based
				dissolution process using alkaline chemicals, heat, agitation and pressure to
				accelerate natural decomposition; the process of hydrolyzed remains after
				removal from the alkaline hydrolysis vessel; placement of the processed remains
				in a hydrolyzed remains container; and release the hydrolyzed remains to an
				appropriate party. Alkaline Hydrolysis is a form of cremation.
2.4. "Alkaline Hydrolysis Operator" means an
				individual certified by the Board to operate crematory equipment.
2.5. "Arrangement conference" means the time
				spent with the next-of-kin, or other duly or legally authorized person or
				representative, planning and making financial arrangements for the cremation of
				a dead human body.
2.6. "authorized
				representative" means a person legally authorized or entitled to order the
				cremation of the deceased.
2.7.
				"Board" means the West Virginia Board of Funeral Service Examiners.
2.8. "Cash advance item" means an item of
				service or merchandise described to a purchaser as a "cash advance item,"
				"accommodation," "cash disbursement," or similar term. It also means an item
				obtained from a third party and paid for by the crematory on the purchaser's
				behalf, including but not limited to cemetery services, obituary notices, and
				death certificates.
2.9. "Casket"
				means a rigid container which is designed for the encasement of human remains
				and which is usually constructed of wood, metal, fiberglass, plastic or other
				material, and ornamented and lined with fabric.
2.10. "Cremated remains" means all human
				remains recovered after the completion of the cremation process and may include
				residue from the cremation container itself and other incinerated materials, as
				well as human remains recovered after the completion of the hydrolysis
				process.
2.11. "Cremation" means
				any mechanical hydrolyzation or thermal process whereby a dead human body is
				reduced to cremated remains and bone fragments. Cremation also includes any
				other mechanical hydrolyzed or thermal process whereby human remains are
				pulverized, burned, recremated, or otherwise further reduced in size or
				quantity.
2.12. "Thermal Cremation
				chamber" or "Hydrolyzation Chamber" means the enclosed space of a cremation
				unit in which the initial reduction of a dead human body takes place.
2.13. "Thermal Cremation container" or
				"alternative contain6r"m6ans an unfinished wood box or other non-metal
				receptacle or enclosure which is designed for the encasement of a dead human
				body for purposes of cremation and which is made of fiberboard, pressed wood,
				composition material with or without an outside covering, or like materials and
				which is combustible and resistant to leakage of bodily fluids. If the
				authorized representative desires, a traditional wood-base casket may serve as
				a cremation container.
2.14.
				"Thermal Cremation unit" means professionally manufactured equipment designed
				specifically for the initial reduction of a dead human body to cremated remains
				and bone fragments by intense heat and flame, containing one or more cremation
				chambers, and which meets all state and federal safety requirements.
2.15. "Crematory" means a place of business
				maintained and operated for the sole purpose of reducing dead human bodies to
				cremated remains and bone fragments by cremation.
2.16. "Crematory operator" means a person
				certified by the board to operate a crematory.
2.17. "Dead human body" means the lifeless
				body of a human being for which a death certificate must be issued or
				individual body parts for which a medical institution or the medical examiner
				has given permission to cremate.
2.18. "Direct supervision" means the physical
				presence of a certified crematory operator in charge for specific activities
				requiring more than general supervision.
2.19. "Fees" means any monies owed to the
				Board for services provided as prescribed in the Board's 6 CSR 7 Rule
2.20. "Funeral goods" means the goods or
				merchandise which are sold or offered for sale directly to the public for use
				in connection with funeral services or final disposition, including but not
				limited to caskets, outer burial containers, alternative containers, cremation
				containers, and cremated remains containers. It shall not include cemetery
				lots, markers, memorials, permanently constructed vaults, concrete lawn crypts,
				or monuments.
2.21. "General
				supervision" means the general oversight or overall responsibility for an
				activity by a certified crematory operator in charge.
2.22. "Hydrolysis Chamber", hydrolysis unit"
				or "hydrolysis vessel" means the enclosed space within which the hydrolysis
				process occurs. Hydrolysis chambers shall be used exclusively for the cremation
				of human remains.
2.23. "Mechanical
				processor" means professionally manufactured equipment designed specifically
				for the secondary reduction of a dead human body's cremated remains and bone
				fragments into smaller fragments by crushing, pulverizing or grinding, and
				which meets all state and federal safety requirements.
2.24. Non-combustible materials" means metals
				or other materials which do not incinerate in a cremation chamber or can not be
				processed in a mechanical processor, such as casket handles, screws, nails,
				wires, medical devices, artificial limbs and joints, or other medical
				implants.
2.25.
				"Operator-in-Charge" means an individual certified by the Board who is in
				charge of the day to day operations of a crematory or alkaline hydrolysis
				facility.
2.26. "Person" means an
				individual, partnership, association, corporation or other
				organization.
2.27. "Registrant"
				means a person who holds a crematory operator certificate or an alkaline
				hydrolysis operator certificate, pursuant to W. Va. Code §
									30-6-11 and this rule.
2.28. "Cremated Remains" refers to the human
				body after being cremated.