Foreign fields and foyers
As the workforce in the UK - and particularly the agricultural and hospitality sectors - becomes increasingly internationalised, thousands of East European, Portuguese and other nationals, flock to our shores every year in search of work. As many of them arrive speaking only a few words of English, incidents arising from lack of comprehension between employers and employees are not uncommon. Sadly, in some cases, such misunderstandings can actually lead to injuries in the workplace. This makes the translation of Health and Safety materials essential when employees' knowledge of English is simply insufficient for them to follow even the most basic instructions.
Fortunately many employers and recruitment agencies demonstrate a highly responsible attitude towards the issue of communicating effectively with non-English-speaking employees from other countries. One such organisation is regular Lingo24 client Turner Stubbs, specialists in industrial temporary recruitment. As Rob Bacon of Turner Stubbs explains: "We work closely with our clients to ensure that the welfare of all employees is safeguarded." He continues: "It's really a two-way thing. If we feel that there's a Health and Safety aspect which needs relayed to foreign workers, then we'll approach our client and suggest translating the appropriate material into the relevant languages. Likewise, if clients feel that there's an issue, they let us know and we organize it on their behalf." In real terms, this means that Rob emails the text straight to Lingo24 where the wheels are set in motion immediately. Asked whether he feels that having a readily accessible translation service has made a difference to the smooth-running of recruitment operations, Rob replies without hesitation: "Yes, absolutely. It's been very, very useful. Our clients and the temporary workers all appreciate the translations greatly."
Legal obligations
Unsurprisingly the position of the law is quite clear on the issue of keeping employees informed about health and safety matters. According to the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, employers must provide employees with comprehensible and relevant information on health and safety issues. What's more, the guidance notes for these regulations state that the information given to employees should be pitched at the right level, should take account of linguistic differences and that there should be special arrangements for employees with little understanding of English or who cannot read English. Recommended methods of achieving this include the use of clear symbols and the translation of relevant material into employees' native tongues.
Sign of the times
The changing face of the UK workforce is certainly reflected in some of the assignments which Lingo24 is regularly asked to carry out. The sort of material which companies currently require translated ranges from simple instructions such as "No smoking" or "Please put all waste in the bin" to warnings such as "Chemical spillages must be wiped up immediately" or "Please ensure guard is in place before starting machine". The target languages vary, but the ones we're asked for most frequently are Kurdish, Arabic and Portuguese plus a wide range of Eastern European languages including Ukrainian, Polish, Lithuanian, Czech and Romanian. A recent addition to this list is Moldavian, predominantly in the agricultural sector. There are a variety of organisations such as HOPS (a sub-division of the National Young Farmers' Organisation) and Agricultural "Machinery Rings" (a type of labour co-operative popular in rural areas) which specialise in the recruitment of temporary agricultural labour. G's Marketing in Cambridgeshire, a leading UK producer of salads and vegetables, is another organisation which relies heavily on foreign employees. They provide hostel accommodation for the hundreds of workers employed as seasonal production operatives at their various sites.
In the hospitality industry too, there are thousands of workers whose knowledge of English is minimal. When they're working with foodstuffs, it is especially important that these employees have a clear understanding of essential hygiene requirements. To address this problem, some companies compile a written test which kitchen staff have to complete successfully before they are allowed to handle food. Lingo24 has already translated several such questionnaires, thereby facilitating the induction process for employees and helping to keep employers on the right side of the law.