Media contest invites Oregon high school students to promote heat illness prevention for young workers; entries due Feb. 12, 2027

Win cash for creative videos, graphic designs

Salem - A media contest is now open to high school students across Oregon, encouraging them to showcase their video or graphic design skills for cash prizes and a good cause: raising awareness among young workers about how to stay safe and healthy while working in hot weather.

The 2027 media contest, organized by the Oregon Young Employee Safety (O[yes]) Coalition, invites participants to create an ad - through a compelling video or graphic design - that catches the attention of teen workers and convinces them to take the Oregon Occupational Safety and Health Division's (Oregon OSHA) heat-illness prevention online course. The idea is to show teen workers that the online course is an important tool they can use to help protect themselves from heat-related hazards while on the job - especially when they're working during the summer months.

Participants in the media contest - now in its 19th year - get to choose the key message, theme, or tagline they believe will succeed in engaging their audience and prompting it to act. The audience is teen workers or teens who plan to be working soon. To compete, participants may submit either a graphic design or a video that is no more than 90 seconds in length.

Participants are expected to choose their key message, theme, or tagline in a wise and positive manner, including constructive and effective messages and language.

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 will receive a matching award. Moreover, O[yes] will use the best of the submissions as ads in its ongoing efforts to improve on-the-job safety and health protections for teens.

As they work on their media projects, participants must ensure the health and safety of their team. No one should be endangered while creating their video or graphic design project.

The deadline for submissions is 5 p.m. Friday, Feb. 12, 2027.

Participants must submit entries online.

The contest rules, entry form, checklist, and more information and resources - including links to the videos and graphics designs of previous contest winners - are available on 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 Oregon Health & Science University, Oregon OSHA, SafeBuild Alliance, SAIF Corporation, and the SHARP Alliance.

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About Oregon OSHA:

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 www.oregon.gov/dcbs/.