The Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services invites high school students across Oregon to enter the annual “Speak up. Work Safe.” video contest. Teens have used special effects, humorous story lines and creative characters to promote young worker safety and health in past videos. The top three entries will take home cash prizes ranging from $300 to $500 and students will earn a matching amount for their school.

“We just love making videos that make each other laugh,” said Drew Corrigan, a 2012 first-place winner from Sisters, who created the superhero character “Safety Man” to draw attention to workplace dangers.

The contest is designed to increase awareness about safety on the job for young people. Students must create a 90-second or less video with the overall theme of “Speak up. Work Safe.” Specific video guidelines are outlined in the contest rules. Participants are encouraged to use humor, creativity, and share the message “Speak up. Work shouldn’t cost you your future” while emphasizing ways to protect themselves at work. Submissions will be judged on the following:

A teen worker health and safety message based on the concept of “Speak up. Work shouldn’t cost you your future” as the main focus of the video: see the rules for specific details

Creativity and originality

Overall production value (video and audio quality)

Youth appeal

The deadline for submissions is Feb. 1, 2013.

Contest winners will be unveiled at a screening event to be announced in the spring of 2013, and winning entries will be posted on YouTube. Students are encouraged to use social media to spread the word about their contest entries with the tag #Oyesvideo

For detailed contest information, including contest tips, rules and entry forms, go to www.youngemployeesafety.org. To see the 2012 winning videos, go to www.youtube.com/user/OregonSafetyHealth

Contest sponsors include the Oregon Young Employee Safety Coalition (O[yes]), Oregon OSHA, SAIF Corporation, American Society of Safety Engineers, Liberty Northwest, the Greater Portland Construction Partnership, and the Center for Research on Occupational and Environmental Toxicology (CROET), the Central Oregon Safety and Health Association, SHARP Alliance and Hoffman Construction.

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 www.orosha.org

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