Students at Parkrose High School in Portland won $500 for their first-place video titled “The Safety Bros” in an annual safety video contest that promotes young worker safety and the importance of speaking up.

Bouncing with music, energy, and humor, the video features a duo of workplace safety and health bros who rally a group of workers to the cause of speaking up and working safe by spurring them to join “a most excellent song and dance number.”

The hip-hop-infused bros, clad in leather jackets and shades, lead the dancing, clapping, and singing while rapping about on-the-job hazards, including old equipment, faulty wires, messy floors, and a lack of training.

Parkrose High School also won a matching amount of prize money.

Chad McAdams, a senior at Parkrose who plays one of the safety bros, said the first-place win “was just really a big and awesome accomplishment for all of us to do.” And he and his video-producing teammates learned a lot along the way. “There’s no reason you shouldn’t say something if you don’t think what you’re doing is safe,” he said. “If you don’t say something, you can really get hurt.”

This year’s contest was McAdams’ second time participating in the safety video contest. He directed 2018’s “Welcome to Recyc Corp,” for which the Parkrose team tied for third place. McAdams hopes to become a filmmaker. “I’m thinking more of like a director who makes original films based off their own writing,” he said. “I have big plans for film.”

The other members of the winning Parkrose High School team are:

Second- and third-place prizes also were awarded. They are as follows:

Second place ($400)

“Safety Joe”
Crescent Valley High School, Corvallis

Created by:

• Danny Mason
• Alex Vartanov

Third place ($300)

“Anytime, Anyplace”
Summit High School, Bend

Created by:

• Marvin Walder
• Ryan Walker
• Olivia McGean
• Amberly Schreinerwood

The creators of the top videos were presented their awards on Saturday during a special screening at Northern Lights Theatre and Pub in Salem. Sponsored by the Oregon Young Employee Safety Coalition (O[yes]), the annual video contest focuses on teen workers, who are twice as likely to be injured on the job, according to federal studies.

The contest is designed to increase awareness about safety for young workers, with the theme of “Speak up. Work safe.” Students were asked to create a 90-second or less video with a teen job safety and health message. The videos were judged on creativity, production value, youth appeal, and the overall safety and health message.

Watch all of the winning videos, as well as the other finalists, on YouTube.

The Oregon Young Employee Safety Coalition (O[yes]) organizes the contest. The sponsors are Oregon OSHA, SAIF Corporation, local Oregon chapters of the American Society of Safety Professionals, the Oregon Institute of Occupational Health Sciences at OHSU, Hoffman Construction, Central Oregon Safety & Health Association, the Oregon SHARP Alliance, the Construction Safety Summit, Northern Lights Theatre and Pub, SafeBuild Alliance, and the Pacific Northwest Section of the American Industrial Hygiene Association.

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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, visit osha.oregon.gov.

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.