Question Period Note: Translation Bureau interpreter health and safety

With the increase of distance interpretation assignments due to virtual sittings, there has been an increase in health and safety incident reports from interpreters. Public Service and Procurement Canada’s Translation Bureau continues to work with the House Administration, Senate Administration and all partners to support Parliament’s virtual sittings while ensuring the health and safety of its interpreters.

• The Translation Bureau is committed to providing quality linguistic services in support of Parliament and federal government departments and agencies
  • Ensuring the health and safety of interpreters is a priority for the Government of Canada, and the Translation Bureau has put in place a number of measures to safeguard interpreters in collaboration with our parliamentary partners
  • The Translation Bureau continues to monitor the situation in Canada and around the world to make informed decisions and implement the best safety measures for interpreters providing distance interpretation
  • Working conditions have been modified for both staff and freelance interpreters to establish optimal conditions for interpreters to provide high-quality service in a safe environment
  • Some of these modifications are implementing technical requirements, reducing the length of assignments and increasing the number of interpreters per assignment without reducing their compensation
  • As of February 2022, all participants in virtual meetings with interpretation for Government of Canada clients must use an external unidirectional microphone; interpretation services will not be provided for participants who do not meet this requirement

If pressed on current activities:

• The Translation Bureau is exploring with parliamentary partners the possibility of expanding its mandatory microphone directive to all clients, including at Parliament
• In May 2022, the Bureau signed a contract with the University of Ottawa for the Auditory Health Program evaluations for interpreters to start at the end of the summer 2022

If pressed on the complaint from the Canadian Association of Professional Employees (CAPE) against the Translation Bureau:

• Ensuring the health and safety of interpreters is a priority for the Government of Canada, and the Translation Bureau has put in place a number of measures to safeguard interpreters as distance interpretation becomes increasingly common
• The Translation Bureau continues to hold regular monthly meetings with the Canadian Association of Professional Employees (CAPE), including during the summer, in order to keep members aware of any new development and consult them and collaborate on health and safety related issues
• The Translation Bureau continues to work with the House Administration, who is responsible for the technology, to strengthen the technical requirements for interpretation in virtual sessions
• The Translation Bureau actively monitors the situation in Canada and elsewhere in the world, and draws on international best practices to implement optimal protection measures

With the increased use of videoconferences, there has been an increase in health and safety incident reports from interpreters, citing headaches, earaches and fatigue due to poor sound quality.

The Translation Bureau’s operations have been adjusted to respond to the changing working conditions. These conditions have improved over time and the Translation Bureau continues to work with its parliamentary partners, who are responsible for the technical environment, to find sustainable solutions to reduce the risk of health and safety incidents and interruptions in service due to technical problems related to remote participation in meetings.

The Translation Bureau’s approach is aligned with international best practices, including the principles, guidance for institutions and best practices of the International Association of Conference Interpreters (AIIC). The Translation Bureau agrees with AIIC’s position on the precautionary principle and has reduced interpreters working hours in remote interpretation in order to reduce their exposure to sound. In addition, it has sponsored research and testing, including tendering a contract to study and track interpreter hearing health, in order to gather data on the impact of processed sound on auditory health. The Translation Bureau is seen as a leader in the field and will continue to cooperate with AIIC and share information as it becomes available.

The Translation Bureau requires its clients to respect technical requirements that protect the health of its interpreters and provide for high-quality interpretation. These include having a qualified audiovisual technician present at all times, requiring that remote participants use unidirectional microphones, have a stable broadband Internet connection, and provide documents to interpreters before or at the start of meetings. However, abiding by these criteria will not eliminate the risk service interruptions, but it will greatly reduce this risk and help ensure the best possible interpretation.

As of February 7, 2022, the Translation Bureau requires that all participants of Government of Canada meetings with interpretation use a unidirectional microphone to ensure clear sound quality. Interpretation services will not be provided for participants who do not meet this requirement. The Translation Bureau is exploring with parliamentary partners the possibility of expanding this directive to all clients, including at Parliament.

On February 17, 2022, the Translation Bureau’s CEO appeared before the House of Commons’ Board of Internal Economy (BOIE) to address interpretation capacity and issues related to the health and safety of interpreters. The CEO appeared again on March 3 and May 19, 2022 in order to answer additional questions.

Complaint by CAPE

The Canadian Association of Professional Employees (CAPE), the union representing Translation Bureau staff interpreters, advised that they have filed a complaint on January 31, 2022, against the Translation Bureau under Part II of the Canada Labour Code, for failing to put in place the necessary measures to eliminate or reduce the health and safety risks to interpreters.

On April 22, 2022, CAPE President Greg Phillips met with Bloc Québécois party whip Claude DeBellefeuille, also a member of BOIE, and Mario Beaulieu, Official Languages critic and Vice-Chair, Standing Committee on Official Languages (LANG). Both MPs committed to working collaboratively with CAPE to see a resolution of this issue. CAPE has met with all five political parties represented in Parliament since the issue was flagged. The issue has also been highlighted in the media.

On July 27, Deputy Minister Paul Thompson and Translation Bureau CEO Lucie Séguin met with CAPE President Greg Phillips following Mr. Phillips’ January 28 letter to the Minister of PSPC to discuss, among others, CAPE’s concerns about the health and safety and the hearing protection of interpreters.

Research studies

The Translation Bureau has 3 studies underway or completed on technology, sound quality and interpreters’ auditory health:

• The Translation Bureau commissioned a report from the National Research Council of Canada (NRC) on sound quality and sound pressure levels to which interpreters are exposed, including in video conferences, and to test the performance of the devices that are used to protect interpreters’ hearing (PreservEar). The NRC report confirmed that the hearing protection systems used provide excellent protection against acoustic shocks. However, it also concluded that the quality of the sound that reaches interpreters’ ears is inferior to the quality of the sound received by the participants directly connected to Zoom. Following the recommendations of the NRC report, the Translation Bureau, in collaboration with the House Administration and the NRC, retested in-person and virtual sound in the House in August 2022
• The Translation Bureau is working on a collaborative project with researchers from the University of Ottawa specializing in the perception of speech in noise, in order to perform hearing tests on interpreters over time, develop benchmarks and present recommendations following acoustic incidents. In May 2022, the Bureau signed a contract with the University of Ottawa for the Auditory Health Program evaluations for interpreters to start at the end of the summer 2022
• The Translation Bureau is working with the University of Geneva, Switzerland, on a research study into whether and how distance interpretation affects cognitive load and performance of interpreters

None