Teams of students at Hermiston, Silverton, Henley, Parkrose, Crescent Valley, and McLoughlin high schools have earned top prizes in a media contest designed to increase awareness about workplace safety and health 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 16th year of putting a spotlight on the importance of young worker safety and health, the 2023-24 media contest challenged participants to create an ad – through either a compelling graphic design or video – that captures their peers’ attention and convinces them to take the O[yes] Young Employee Safety Awareness online training.

The creative possibilities were multifaceted: Participants got to choose the key message, theme, or tagline they believed would attract their audience and move it to act. Participants were asked to submit either a graphic design or a video that was no more than 90 seconds long.

Teams of students met the challenge with smart and positive media projects. In attention-grabbing videos and artful graphic designs, students called attention to everything from workplace stress to worker rights on the job. Their projects stayed laser-focused on convincing their target audience – teen workers or teens who are preparing to work for the first time – to take the O[yes] Young Employee Safety Awareness online training to improve their knowledge of how to stay safe and healthy in the workplace. The top winners in each category were:

Video:

• First place: Silverton High School, “Saying Yes” ($500)
• Second: Parkrose High School, “The Office Ordeal” ($400); McLoughlin High School, “On the Job Lessons” ($400)
• Third: Crescent Valley High School, “Do Not Touch” ($300)
• Finalists: Lincoln High School, “Choose O[YES]” and Nyssa High School, “Out of the Woods.”

Graphic design:

• First place: Hermiston High School, “Don’t Burn Yourself Out” ($500)
• Second place: Henley High School, “Safety is a Full-Time Job” ($400)
• Third place: Henley High School, “Ensure Your Safety” ($300)
• Finalists: Henley High School, “O[Yes] Poster,” Beaverton High School, “Shaping Safe Workplaces,” Hermiston High School, “Safety Awareness,” Hermiston High School, “Safety in the Workplace,” Henley High School, “Teen Safety Poster.”

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, where you will also find videos of the contestants discussing their media projects.

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 2023-24 contest sponsors were the Oregon chapters of the American Association of Safety Professionals, Construction Safety Summit, Central Oregon Safety and Health Association, Hoffman Construction, Oregon Health & Sciences University, Oregon OSHA, Oregon SHARP Alliance, SafeBuild Alliance, and SAIF.

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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 AFL-CIO is the statewide federation of affiliated unions, representing more than 300,000 working Oregonians. For more information, visit Oregon AFL-CIO.

Contact information

Aaron Corvin,
public information officer
971-718-6973
Aaron.corvin@dcbs.oregon.gov