Oregon HS students invited to enter media contest promoting young worker safety

SALEM, Ore. (KTVZ) – High school students across Oregon are invited to let their video or graphic design skills stand out in service of a good cause: increasing awareness about workplace safety for young workers. 

The 2022 media contest, organized by the Oregon Young Employee Safety Coalition (O[yes]), is now open for submissions.

The contest calls on participants to inspire young workers to reflect on their personal health and safety at work, and the reality that they could be hurt on the job. They may do so either by creating a video that is between 30 to 90 seconds in length or by crafting a graphic design piece.

Either way, the project must highlight the tagline “Work. It can be more dangerous than you think.” For this year’s contest, participants must also incorporate the theme: “Young Worker Mental Well-Being.”

In developing the theme, participants may consider such factors as the workplace stressors that young workers sometimes experience and how employers can support the mental well-being of young workers.

The top three entries in each of the two media categories will take home cash prizes ranging from $300 to $500. In each category, the first place winner’s school, club, or organization will receive a matching award. 

Some participants may dream up a bold, splashy graphic design to get their message across. Others may grab a smartphone or camera and develop a video that captivates their audience with documentary-style seriousness.

Along the way, participants are encouraged to share or build on their personal experiences – whether positive or negative – to highlight the importance of teen well-being while on the job.

While they carry out their projects, participants need to ensure the personal health and safety of their team. That includes avoiding endangering anyone during the creation of their project; ensuring entries do not depict unsafe behavior or show participants not following COVID-19 guidance; and following Oregon Health Authority guidance for COVID-19. 

The deadline for submissions is 5 p.m. Friday, Feb. 18, 2022. 

Participants are encouraged to submit entries online. Submissions may also be mailed on a USB thumb drive. All participants will be invited to a live-streamed event in which all finalist submissions will be shown and the top three winners in each category will be revealed.

For more information about the entry form and rules, contest expectations, and resources – including graphic design and video examples, and the entries that won in 2021 – visit the O[yes] online contest page.

The contest sponsors are local Oregon chapters of the American Society of Safety Professionals, Construction Safety Summit, Central Oregon Safety & Health Association, Hoffman Construction Company, Oregon Institute of Occupational Health Sciences at OHSU, Oregon OSHA, SafeBuild Alliance, SAIF Corporation, and Oregon SHARP Alliance.

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Oregon OSHA, a division of the Department of Consumer and Business Services, enforces the state's workplace safety and health rules and works to improve workplace safety and health for all Oregon workers. For more information, go to osha.oregon.gov.

The Department of Consumer and Business Services is Oregon's largest business regulatory and consumer protection agency. For more information, go to oregon.gov/dcbs.

The Oregon Young Employee Safety Coalition (O[yes]) is a nonprofit dedicated to preventing young worker injuries and fatalities. O[yes] members include safety and health professionals, educators, employers, labor and trade associations, and regulators. For more information, go to youngemployeesafety.org.