Brown, Judge.We granted Rochelle Frett’s application for discretionary appeal to review the superior court’s order, affirming the decision of the Appellate Division of the State Board of Workers’ Compensation, which had denied Frett’s claim for benefits under the Workers’ Compensation Act (the “Act”). For the following reasons, we affirm. The facts in this case are undisputed. At the time of the incident, Frett worked as an insurance claims associate for State Farm Insurance Companies (“State Farm”). Each workday, Frett had a mandatory, unpaid 45-minute lunch break. An automated system scheduled staggered lunch breaks to ensure enough associates were available to handle calls. After logging on for the day, Frett would see her schedule, including the time for her lunch break. At her scheduled lunch break time, Frett would log out of the phone system. All parties agree that Frett was free to do as she pleased on her break and could leave the office for lunch if she wished. Frett was not expected or asked to do work during her lunch breaks. Generally, Frett brought her lunch and would walk to the State Farm employee breakroom on her floor to prepare her food. During the spring and summer, she would eat her lunch on a bench outside of the office building or in her car in the parking lot. State Farm has a suite within the shared office building, but does not own the parking lot or the surrounding outdoor areas.On the day of the incident, Frett logged out of the phone system at her assigned time and walked to the breakroom where she microwaved her food. As Frett started to exit the breakroom to take her lunch outside the building, she slipped on water and fell. It is undisputed that Frett was still inside the breakroom when she fell. A manager helped Frett to her feet and instructed her to complete an incident report, which she did. Frett then took her lunch outside to eat on a bench, as planned, but was in pain and left work early. Based upon these facts, the administrative law judge (“ALJ”) awarded Frett temporary total disability benefits and medical expenses arising from her fall, relying upon this Court’s decision in Rockwell v. Lockheed Martin Corp., 248 Ga. App. 73 (545 SE2d 121) (2001). The State Board of Workers’ Compensation (the “Board”) reversed the ALJ’s award, concluding that Frett’s injury did not arise out of her employment because it occurred while she was on a “regularly scheduled break.” According to the Board, the fact that Frett was in the process of leaving and still on State Farm’s premises at the time of the injury did not change the outcome as Frett was leaving to attend to “a purely personal matter.” The Board distinguished Rockwell on the ground that it addressed whether the Act applied to bar the worker’s tort action against her employer, a separate determination from whether the injury at issue was compensable under the Act.[1] The Superior Court of Dekalb County affirmed the Board’s denial of benefits. On appeal, Frett asserts that the Board erred by applying the scheduled lunch break exception to her case and by ruling that the ingress and egress rule does not apply to an employee leaving the employer’s premises on a scheduled lunch break. “Because the relevant facts are not in dispute, and because [Frett] contends that the Board applied an erroneous theory of law to the facts, we apply a de novo standard of review.” Freeman v. Southwire Co., 269 Ga. App. 692, 693 (605 SE2d 95) (2004).In the absence of legal error, the factual findings of the State Board of Workers’ Compensation must be affirmed by the superior court and by the Court of Appeals when supported by any evidence in the administrative record. However, erroneous applications of law to undisputed facts, as well as decisions based on erroneous theories of law, are subject to the de novo standard of review.
(Citation omitted.) Hill v. Omni Hotel at CNN Center, 268 Ga. App. 144, 146 (601 SE2d 472) (2004).To be compensable under the Act, an “injury by accident” must arise “out of and in the course of employment.” See OCGA § 34-9-1 (4). Both of these “independent and distinct criteria” must be satisfied. Mayor &c. of Savannah v. Stevens, 278 Ga. 166 (1) (598 SE2d 456) (2004). The words “in the course of the employment” relate to the time, place, and circumstances under which the accident takes place, and an accident arises in the course of the employment when it occurs within the period of employment at a place where the employee may reasonably be in the performance of his duties and while he is fulfilling those duties or engaged in something incidental thereto. The words “arising out of the employment” refer to the causal connection between the employment and the injury.
