Celebrating Students and Early Professionals at Oregon GOSH 2025

Yes, let us celebrate the amazing students and early professionals who attended the successful 2025 Oregon Governor’s Occupational Safety & Health Conference, held at the Portland’s Oregon Convention Center this month! GOSH is the largest occupational safety and health conference in the Pacific Northwest, and a favorite for many.

For more than a decade, the Oregon Young Employee Safety Coalition, O[yes], has hosted students and early professionals in a no cost day as part of this popular safety conference. Attendees were allowed to listen to the conference keynote and two afternoon sessions, tour the exhibit hall and eat lunch with attendees and mentors, and participate in a morning panel and Q&A session.

This year’s attendees included undergraduate and graduate students from Oregon State University’s Public Health and Engineering Schools, student from the OHSU/PSU School of Public Health, and an early construction safety professional. Mentors from a number of organizations donated their time including O[yes], the Oregon FACE Program at OHSU, SAIF, Oregon Health Authority, Oregon OSHA, Clackamas Community College, Oregon State University, and OHSU.

Attendees most enjoyed the welcoming environment and diversity of both career opportunities and sessions; meeting so many different people and the intimate setting; and feeling that people want to help on their career journeys. Some of their take-aways included learning both about safety, but also how mental health and workplace conditions are key drivers of workplace safety. They also better understood how essential communication skills are in the field, as well as the power of networking.

We thank our O[yes], Columbia-Willamette Chapter of the American Society of Safety Professionals, Oregon OSHA, and all other professionals involved in supporting this day. We particularly appreciate the interest, dedication and enthusiasm of the day’s participants.