• OHIP site visit 2015
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Occupational Health Internship Program (OHIP): The Next Generation of Leaders

The national Occupational Health Internship Program (OHIP) is dedicated to helping graduate and undergraduate students learn about the field of occupational safety and health (OSH) from those most at stake: working people. Since 2004, OHIP has played a vital role in mentoring and inspiring a new generation of OSH professionals to prevent job injury and disease through partnerships with labor unions and community-based organizations. The program has grown substantially over the past decade and has successfully responded to workforce changes by recruiting a diverse group of students who speak the languages of the workers involved in their projects, and have different academic and technical skills that match well with project needs.

The full-time, paid summer internship is designed to maximize interaction between students and workers employed in an under-served or high hazard job. Teams of two students receive supervision from a union or worker organization staff member and an academic mentor. Each team is required to develop a “give back” product to the workers and their host union/worker organization, present their project at a national NIOSH web-conference, and produce a final report.

Flyers

OHIP Orientation

The Labor Occupational Safety and Health (LOSH) Program will be hosting the national Occupational Health Internship Program (OHIP) orientation over three days at UCLA. OHIP student interns from across the country will meet for a hands-on experience where they will participate in a variety of interactive educational sessions related to occupational safety and health (OSH) topics including: worksite tours, listening to a panel of workers who have sustained injuries or have encountered hazards on the job, discussing research strategies around OSH, and much more.

Quotes from Past Interns

“OHIP students bring a lot of energy, focus and intelligence to their projects. It’s great to watch them work well with stakeholders and become excited about what they are doing to help prevent a workplace injury or illness. For many it’s a life changing experience,” commented OHIP Academic Mentor David Harrington. 

“My expectations for the project were exceeded,” said intern Cassandra Porchas. “I am grateful I had the opportunity to gain access to so many worksites with the help of the participating unions and with the efforts of my site supervisor. There was never a dull moment.”