Is ohp important for powerlifting?

[LexAnderson]

So if OHP is good for bench as many of us agree on, then isn't it essentially good for powerlifting since bench is one of the three lifts?

Depends on: number of pressing slots available, injury history, available equipment, and individual response.

Of course, but can we not assume it as a base generalization that if you're able to press, then press?

I would agree with that. I have a bunch of shoulder injuries from snowboarding and mountain biking. Consistently working on my press has eliminated almost all the pain and loose bits in my shoulders. Even when I’m not specifically targeting press, I’ll keep three work sets at higher volume in once a week.

If you treat it as an accessory lift it only takes ~10 minutes start to finish and loads can be adjusted in much more controlled increments than dumbbells. Plus it doesn’t require any special benches or equipment.

I have been using it as strictly accessory for the past several months, and I have seen a increase in my bench strength. I'm lucky though, no shoulder injuries here.

[platypus]

The only thing that helped my shoulder after I tore my supraspinatus tendon bench pressing was pressing overhead, so I intend to do them forever. But people have certainly benched heavy weights in the absence of heavy overhead work.

My (limited) experience tells me that ohp is croosh for shoulder health, so I guess you could say it helps the bench indirectly. I imagine pressing huge weights overhead would have some carryover to benching as well, although so would basically any upper body work.