2011 Oregon Revised Statutes
ORS Volume 14, Chapters 645 - 669
ORS Chapter 655
655.510 Benefits for injuries in authorized employment; establishing injury claim; exclusive remedy.

(1) Every inmate shall receive benefits as provided in ORS 655.505 to 655.555 for injury sustained in an authorized work or occupational training assignment:

(a) Where the injury is proximately caused by or received in the course of the authorized work or occupational training assignment, with or without negligence of the inmate;

(b) Where the injury is not intentionally self-inflicted;

(c) Where the injury is not a result of a willful violation of work rules or rules regulating inmate conduct or premises security; and

(d) Where the injury does not occur to an active participant in an assault or combat that is not connected to the job assignment and that constitutes a deviation from customary duties.

(2) An injury must be established by medical evidence supported by objective findings. The medical evidence must be substantiated by verifiable pathological indication of injury that includes, but is not limited to, range of motion, atrophy, muscle strength, palpable muscle spasm and diagnostic evidence substantiated by clinical findings. Objective findings do not include physical findings or subjective responses to physical examinations that are not consistently reproducible, measurable or observable, or do not fit an anatomical pattern and that cannot be demonstrated after reasonable medical evaluation. A claimant s statement to a physician or other party does not constitute objective medical evidence sufficient to substantiate an injury.

(3) The following circumstances do not constitute a basis for establishing an injury:

(a) Compulsion to participate in employment or training;

(b) Disciplinary action taken by the Department of Corrections;

(c) Action taken by the Department of Corrections to protect the safety of persons other than inmates or of other inmates or to maintain order; or

(d) Actions of other inmates.

(4) The filing of claims for benefits under ORS 655.505 to 655.555 is the exclusive remedy of an inmate or beneficiary of the inmate for injuries compensable under ORS 655.505 to 655.555 against the state or its political subdivisions or any person or entity that contracts with the Department of Corrections for the services of inmate labor, any person or entity that employs an inmate in a work release program established under ORS 144.420 or any owner or manager of premises where authorized work or occupational training assignments occur, regardless of negligence. This section applies to any work-related injury to, or conditions of, an inmate whether or not the injury is determined to be compensable under ORS 655.505 to 655.555. [1963 c.527 2,4; 1995 c.384 19]