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Mylene Crete La Presse
(Ottawa) A shrill noise has not left Elisabeth Seymour’s ears for six months. Day and night. The freelance interpreter suffered severe acoustic shock on October 20 while translating the words of a witness in a Senate committee.
“I got it right in the eardrum,” she says. It totally shocked me and I would even say almost paralyzed. I couldn’t react at the time. I couldn’t continue, I was dazed for a while. it was strong »
She had to be transported to the hospital at the urging of the paramedics: her blood pressure was high, she was shaking badly and suffering from “terrible migraines”.
“I could see that she was touching her face,” recalls Senator Michèle Audette, who quickly came to her aid after realizing something was wrong. She first offered her some water, then led her out of the room and into the bathroom to collect her thoughts. “At one point she collapsed on the ground,” she adds.
An audiologist’s report, written about a week after Elisabeth Seymour’s accident at work, confirms that she suffered “acoustic trauma” and notes that she suffers from severe tinnitus. She is now able to work again, but had to reduce her working hours.
“There have been several similar reports to the translation agency in the past,” notes audiologist Camille Thabet in his report. […] If these technical problems are not resolved in a timely manner, more and more interpreters from translation agencies are at risk of developing symptoms related to acoustic shock. »
The situation has been denounced by both the Canadian branch of the International Association of Conference Interpreters (AIIC), which represents freelance interpreters, and the Canadian Association of Professional Employees (CAPE), the association of employed interpreters in the translation agency.
“Since 2020, interpreters’ hearing problems have resulted in 33 out of 67 interpreters being on sick leave in the office,” said one of CAPE’s Vice-Presidents, André Picotte, who represents translators and interpreters.
That is a total of 349 sick days to treat work accidents. That is much. It has never been higher.
André Picotte, Vice President of the Canadian Association of Professional Employees (CAPE)
The number of risk reports has exploded with the widespread use of hybrid parliamentary procedures since the beginning of the pandemic.
“This is the third serious accident since the beginning of the virtual one,” regrets Nicole Gagnon, who represents AIIC members in Canada. “We are ending the careers of professional interpreters, and we are not many. »
Acoustic shocks are usually caused by a short, sudden, and unexpected sound, also known as an “audible snap”. The phenomenon was first reported by call center operators in the late 1990s.
Symptoms present vary from earache, headache, excessive tiredness, tinnitus and hypersensitivity to noise.
“It can be very uncomfortable temporarily,” explains Philippe Fournier, professor of audiology at Université Laval. So it could be a temporary tinnitus or symptoms after a concussion. He notes that neither the definition nor the symptoms of acoustic shock are the subject of consensus among scientists. Researchers are still trying to understand how this type of shock affects the muscles of the inner ear.
Recommendation ignored
Members or witnesses participating in Parliamentary business remotely must wear a headset with a microphone pre-approved by the translation agency. However, this rule was not applied on the day that Elisabeth Seymour suffered her accident at work.
Two witnesses invited to present their views before the Senate Standing Committee on Energy, Environment and Natural Resources did not wear the recommended headset and microphone. Their sound was therefore of poor quality, making the performers’ work difficult. They had to comply anyway, at the request of the committee chair, during the portion where the senators question the witnesses.
“Since the sound was bad, we played with the volume, which we shouldn’t do because the sound should be good enough,” recalls Elisabeth Seymour.
PHOTO PATRICK WOODBURY, RIGHT
Interpreter at work for a committee in Ottawa
According to the translation agency’s investigation report, the volume in the room was also increased because the senators were having trouble hearing witnesses. A senator speaks. “She walks towards the microphone and there is a noise [qui retentit] in my ears and in the room,” says Michèle Audette, hastily removing her headset.
The investigation report states that it is “loud feedback”, also known as feedback. A high-pitched, shrill whistle lasting a few seconds, as sometimes heard in movie theaters.
“In the case before us, it is clear that the combination of a series of actions and decisions that did not conform to procedures significantly increased that risk and created what could be described as a ‘perfect storm’,” reads the translation agency’s investigation report .
The Senate alleges that the hearing protectors built into the interpreters’ consoles worked before, during and after the acoustic shock Ms. Seymour suffered. However, the investigation could not confirm what sound level was reached when the sound returned, or whether the compressor limiter had actually been activated. The report makes a number of recommendations, including requiring witnessed sound testing and introducing headsets with microphones.
The Senate Administration confirms their implementation. Both chambers now require wearing an approved headset with a microphone that conforms to the ISO standard. They even reimburse witnesses who need to apply for one to sit on committees, up to a maximum of $250.
However, this rule must be properly applied. The Senate submitted a draft protocol to the translation agency in the event of refusal to perform if interpreters consider their working conditions to be too dangerous.
What causes acoustic problems for artists?
There are many hypotheses and audiology researchers are still trying to understand the cause of interpreters’ acoustic problems. The migration to virtual platforms like Zoom during the pandemic would have contributed to the problem, according to their representatives. Omnidirectional microphones, such as those supplied with cell phone headphones, pick up all ambient noise, which negatively affects the sound quality of simultaneous interpreting. Instead, the ISO standard recommends a directional microphone that picks up the voice better. Compressing the audio, either through software, bandwidth or equipment, would also affect quality, according to CNA. “The sound is muffled, it feels like they’re at the bottom of a pot, it’s cavernous,” describes Nicole Gagnon. If you think we’re getting that and that we’re still obliged to interpret, that’s impossible. We lose bits. Hence the reflex to turn up the volume to compensate, risking an acoustic shock.
Parliamentary Disturbances
PHOTO PATRICK WOODBURY, RIGHT
Interpreters at work during a press conference by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau
Committee meetings suspended or canceled altogether. Parliamentary work is regularly disrupted by poor acoustic conditions for interpreters.
“Since we returned in January, there have been many, many problems in all the committees,” said Claude Debellefeuille, President of the Bloc Québécois, with regret.
One of the most striking examples is the cancellation, expected on March 6, of testimony by Google officials explaining why they blocked 1 million searchers in the country from accessing news. These were connected remotely, but the audio was insufficient for interpretation. After an hour of waiting, the parliamentary committee meeting was postponed.
In the same week, a quarter of House of Commons committee meetings were briefly adjourned, postponed, suspended or canceled due to technical or audio problems. In the Senate, four committee meetings were suspended and one canceled for the same reason.
These interruptions slow down the progress of the calculations. For example, that same week, the meeting of the committee investigating the reform of the official language law was delayed by almost an hour and a half because of a new Democrat’s poor internet connection.
As a whip I’m completely unsatisfied because after three years of hybrid work it seems to me that we need to control this part of the work better and offer more stability.
Claude Debellefeuille, Whip of the Bloc Québécois
The elected bloc member raises the issue at each meeting of the House of Commons Board of Internal Economy. His colleagues are instructed to appeal if the conditions for interpretation are not met. The issue is all the more important for the Bloc Québécois as it affects Francophones disproportionately, since around 80% of committee work is conducted in English. “So the pressure is more on the side of those listening to the translation in French,” she concludes.
refusal to work
Members are now required to wear a headset with a microphone to attend remote procedures to reduce the number of interruptions and cancellations. The House of Commons has approved six models that meet the ISO standard for simultaneous interpreting.
“The functioning of our parliamentary system is based on this essential ability to be heard and to listen to other MPs, thanks to simultaneous interpretation in the official language of one’s choice,” recalled Speaker of the House of Commons Anthony Rota, in his decision issued on March 7 in response to a Question from Claude Debellefeuille.
The House of Commons also recommends that elected officials and witnesses have a more reliable wired internet connection and avoid connecting via a tablet or mobile phone, but it’s not an obligation.
Interpreters are ordered to suspend service if they feel working conditions are dangerous to their health, except that pressure from parliamentarians to continue at all costs is strong, as Elisabeth Seymour noted on the day she received a suffered acoustic shock.
PHOTO PATRICK WOODBURY, RIGHT
Elizabeth Seymour, actress
They really think we’re playing divas. They are very upset because it prevents them from doing their job and it is an insult to the witnesses to tell them, “We will not interpret you.”
Elizabeth Seymour, actress
According to a 2021 Canadian Association of Professional Employees (CAPE) survey, 43% of interpreters chose to return to work even if an issue was not resolved. Sometimes an interpreter who refuses to work is simply replaced by one who takes the risk.
“The House of Commons is not doing enough, it’s very clear Ms Seymour is slicing up. She claims to do the right thing, but she only half does it.”
Reclamation approved
A Canadian Labor Code decision in early February changed that. It arose after a complaint from CAPE, demanding that the translation agency provide a safe working environment for its interpreters.
“Yes, the translation agency is trying to do what is necessary, but there must also be the political will to respect these instructions,” says Nicole Gagnon, who represents the members of the International Association of Conference Interpreters (CNA) in Canada.
Wearing a headset with a unidirectional microphone and a wired internet connection will help alleviate the problem, but you also need to ensure the quality of the audio system. Simultaneous interpreting requires “excellent audio quality, far exceeding what committee members generally require,” admitted the translation agency’s media officer, Michèle LaRose, via email.
The House of Commons Administration, which provides audiovisual services to the Senate, said it has spent more than $1 million upgrading interpreter consoles during the pandemic to prevent acoustic shock. However, CAPE and CNA regret that these changes were only made in the House of Commons and not in the many committee rooms and Senate.
The AIIC is also denouncing a new employment contract recently presented to freelance performers that would increase their exposure to a noise deemed harmful. Reduced working hours for virtual sessions would return to normal for hybrid sessions. The translation agency advises that this next open contract is still subject to consultation.
A problem elsewhere in the world
PHOTO MARY ALTAFFER, Associated Press Archives
Interpreters at work at the United Nations (UN) headquarters in New York during an address by Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba on February 22
The situation experienced by interpreters in the Canadian Parliament is not unique. Many of them complain about the same hearing problems, whether they work for the institutions of the European Union or those of the United Nations (UN).
47%
“To date, we don’t know of any organization where there aren’t serious hearing problems,” says Nyssa Gregory, who is a member of the negotiating delegation of the International Association of Conference Interpreters (AIIC) to the UN. She mainly interprets simultaneously for UNESCO. Interpreters working for the European Union also complain about the same problems.
“In general, almost every second interpreter will report having already had an acoustic event with symptoms. So it’s quite common,” says Philippe Fournier, professor of audiology at Université Laval.
He participated in a study in 2019 and 2020 to measure the prevalence of acoustic shock among 1035 CNA members in 81 countries. Two-thirds reported having experienced an acoustic shock in the course of their work, and almost half reported suffering from tinnitus, hyperacusis, headache, hearing loss or stabbing ear pain as a result. The prevalence rate is similar to that of call center operators.
“Can multiple repeated incidents with mild transient symptoms lead to a more serious incident? We don’t know what causes the greater gravity phenomenon,” explains the researcher.
Science currently offers few answers to the causes of acoustic problems and the solutions to fix them. The translation agency asked the director of the Audiology and Speech Pathology Program at the University of Ottawa, Josée Lagacé, to conduct a study on the auditory health of interpreters and to recommend a course of action for acoustic events. The Hearing Institute, a research center of the Institut Pasteur in Paris, has launched a similar study in collaboration with AIIC.
It is poisonous
One of the factors highlighted is the digital sound processing. Audio frequency compression is used “so the voices are always above the background noise,” explains acoustics engineer Christian Hugonnet. Together with Professor Paul Avan, who is leading the study at the Pasteur Institute, he examined the institutions of the European Parliament.
It eventually leads to a harmful saturation of the ear, which causes significant fatigue and can lead to problems with partial deafness and tinnitus in the medium and long term.
Christian Hugonnet, acoustics engineer
Even headsets with microphones, as recommended by the House of Commons in Canada, would not be a panacea, according to CNA, since they are equipped with an electronic chip for sound compression.
The European Parliament has equipped its 705 MEPs with unidirectional ground microphones to fix the problem. The AIIC notes that they are underused.
Meanwhile, AIIC believes organizations should adopt the precautionary principle to avoid exposing artists to this “toxic noise” until such studies truly determine the cause and propose solutions.
“We are a bit like the canaries in the mine,” says Frédéric Girard, member of the AIIC professional delegation for the European Union. “It starts with us being more exposed, but it will potentially affect other workers and MPs, assuming that isn’t already the case. »
The example follows
The Court of Justice of the European Union has issued very strict rules for virtual negotiations. She does not use platforms like Zoom for data protection and quality reasons. Lawyers intervening via video conference are ordered to equip themselves with an appropriate microphone, otherwise they will not be able to plead. The same applies to the quality of the internet connection. Tests are carried out 10 days before the hearing to ensure that everything is in order.
The court’s interpreter, Marie Muttilainen, says she fought “like crazy” for good working conditions. “I didn’t let go,” she admits in an interview. She considers herself lucky to have had the support of the court administration.
I’ve fought so hard during the COVID years to protect my interpreters, trying to serve my institution, of course serving my judges, but not accepting anything because you need to know that interpretation in the court or court, it is one legal interpretation where every word counts.
Marie Muttilainen, Director of Interpretation at the Court of Justice of the European Union
It has also ensured that interpreters can measure their hearing with an audiometer as often as they wish, thanks to the court’s medical service, should there be an increase in videoconferencing. “I said, ‘If my interpreters have to work like this, I also want us to keep an eye on their health,'” she explains.
The European Parliament has taken less stringent precautionary measures. A code of conduct is being drawn up “to improve the behavior of remote speakers and the sound quality at meetings,” according to its spokeswoman Constanze Beckerhoff. She also points out that interpreters have a right of refusal if they feel their work is unsafe.