ATLANTA — This past summer interns with Usher’s New Look, the nonprofit founded by Grammy Award-winning artist Usher Raymond IV to prepare young people for careers in entertainment and production, worked with Georgia Tech’s Safety, Health, and Environmental Services (SHES) group as part of their pre-R&B Tour internship program.
The interns completed OSHA’s 10-Hour General Industry training through the Georgia Tech OSHA Training Institute Education Center (GT-OTIEC), which shared tools for recognizing hazards in live entertainment. Facilitated by SHES OTIEC Manager Hilarie Warren, Safety Engineering Services Manager Paige Rohrig, and Occupational Health Services Manager Jenny Houlroyd, the training was tailored to address challenges interns would encounter on tour.
“Collaborating with this local program and helping prepare these enthusiastic individuals to work safely around the unique hazards found in a touring environment was such a special opportunity,” said Warren. She noted the customized approach grew out of a 2019 OSHA Susan Harwood Grant that allowed SHES to develop safety and health trainings specific to the entertainment industry.
“For Usher’s New Look, we were able to talk about atmospheric fog and smoke used during concert events, material handling in the context of stage equipment and moving parts, temperature extremes and the need to look out for each other and how to prepare your body for strenuous conditions.”
According to Usher’s New Look tour internship coordinator, Jasmine Pollard, who reached out to Georgia Tech for help, safety training was a natural outgrowth of the organization’s workforce development mission. “They found a way to make safety interesting, to engage everybody,” Pollard said of the SHES team.
As interns prepared to work on a major concert tour, the value of the training became immediately clear. While students expected discussions about obvious workplace hazards, they discovered that entertainment environments come with risks that are easily overlooked, like lasers, pyrotechnics, and rain.
Once on the road, interns Sarah Swift and Storm Smith found themselves applying lessons from the course regularly. From wearing hard hats during load-ins and load-outs to understanding the importance of hydration, the OSHA training became part of their routine.
“Definitely every second of every day,” Swift said when asked how often she uses what she learned. “You’ve got to be prepared for the unexpected.”
Smith agreed, noting that safety awareness became second nature while working around cranes, heavy equipment, and constantly moving stage components.
The training’s impact extended beyond individual behavior, too. Pollard said the interns began encouraging safe practices among themselves, reminding each other to wear hard hats and stay aware of hazards. The summer session finished without any serious injuries among the program’s participants.
For Tony Betton Jr., director of programs and communication at Usher’s New Look, the partnership between the organization and SHES represents more than a one-off event; it’s an opportunity to explore further collaborations and develop new trainings.
“Our co-founder, our programming team, and even Usher were really excited that we were partnering with Georgia Tech. It seems like Georgia Tech has got a department for everything, and we are very proud of being able to partner with our Atlanta schools,” said Betton. “Now we’re talking about how to take it to the next level.”
As Pollard put it, “Safety is a lifestyle. It’s not an add-on, it’s necessary.”