Parkrose, Pendleton, Grant, North Eugene, Crook County, and West Linn take top spots
Salem, OR — Teams of students at Parkrose, Pendleton, Grant, North Eugene, Crook County, and West Linn high schools have earned top prizes in a media contest designed to increase awareness about workplace safety for young workers.
High school students across Oregon were invited to participate in the annual contest organized by the Oregon Young Employee Safety Coalition (O[yes]). In its 14th year of putting a spotlight on the importance of young worker safety and health, the 2021-2022 competition challenged participants to create either a 30- to 90-second video or graphic design that inspires young workers to think twice about their personal health and safety in the workplace. Submissions had to include the tagline “Work. It can be more dangerous than you think.” They also had to highlight the theme of young worker mental well-being.
Teams of students rose to the challenge. In crisply edited videos and bold graphic designs, they called attention to everything from the stress of a young worker’s first day on the job and the value of a healthy work-life balance to the need to take breaks and to place a high priority on mental health.
The top winners in each category were:
Video:
- First place: Parkrose High School, “Balancing Act” ($500)
- Second: Pendleton High School, “Be Bold for Better Balance” ($400)
- Third: Grant High School, “Workplace Stress” ($300)
- Finalist: Centennial High School, “Balancing Work”
Graphic design:
- First place: North Eugene High School, “Work. Graphic” ($500)
- Second place: Crook County High School, “Safety presentation” ($400)
- Third place: West Linn High School, “Too much to handle!” ($300)
- Finalists:
- Spray School, “Work Pressure”
- West Linn High School, “The unseen struggle”
- West Linn High School, “Think twice”
The first-place teams in each category also earned a matching award for their schools.
Check out the winning submissions on the (O[yes]) website.
The mission of (O[yes]) is to prevent injuries and illnesses, and promote well-being to young workers. The nonprofit does this through outreach, advocacy, and sharing resources with young workers, educators, employers, parents, and labor organizations.
The 2021-2022 contest sponsors are: SAIF Corporation, Oregon OSHA, Oregon Institute of Occupational Health Sciences at Oregon Health and Science University, SafeBuild Alliance, Oregon chapters of the American Society of Safety Professionals, Oregon SHARP Alliance, Construction Safety Summit, Hoffman Construction, Oregon811, and the Central Oregon Occupational Safety & Health Conference.