Safety & Health – What Happens When Policies Are Backwards

Does your non-native employee truly understand company Health & Safety Policies? Your employees understanding of all Health & Safety material in their own language should be of the upmost importance in any workplace.

Your company and your employees will be protected if the company’s safety procedures and guidelines are provided in the spoken language of your non English employees.

There are many things to consider when getting your formal documents translated, in some languages technical words or workplace phrases won’t match the words or phrases of the native language therefore, it is imperative the material is clear and easy to read whist meeting the criteria to protect both the company and employee. Under the Equality Act, a company must ensure that no one suffers a detriment, which could potentially happen if an employee’s level of English was not good enough to understand the key points.

Having your documents checked by experienced human resource professionals will help the process, as will localisation to avoid ambiguity in communication.

Dependant on the business, the materials uses a combination of wording and illustrations to communicate information in simple ways for all employees. The most effective safety or warning materials communicate their vital messages through easily understood images and a minimum of text.

These are effective for workers who speak any language unless native localisation has been sort…

Correct punctuation can also save a life…

Let’s eat Dad.

Let’s eat, Dad.

So, if the correct punctuation can save a life, what does it mean when safety-critical information hasn’t been understood due to a worker speaking a different language?

Under health and safety law, the primary responsibility for this is down to employers. The cost will not outweigh the peace of mind!

Translate Hive provides highly specialised document translation of your industry-specific terminology, in a cost effective and timely manner.

Our friendly and honest team are on hand to discuss your requirements, with a no obligation, non-pestering approach. Click here to contact us or call us on 0845 505 9961.

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