The Ropes
Some Risks and Hazards of Translating in the Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Field
Today’s translation topic is occupational health and safety under the Canada Occupational Health and Safety Regulations, whose enabling act is the Canada Labour Code (Part II). My goal is to translate the following sentence:
La société n’a pas veillé à entreposer les matériaux, marchandises et objets de manière à ce qu’il n’en résulte pas de risques pour la santé et la sécurité.
There are a couple of issues with the French sentence. First, there are at least four possible translations for veiller à.
- 1. The company did not store. . .
- 2. The company failed to store. . .
- 3. The company did not ensure that . . . were stored so as to prevent. . .
- 4. Materials, merchandise or things were not stored. . . (passive voice)
The legislation refers to “risks,” “hazardous” and “hazards.” However, subsection 14.50 of the Canada Occupational Health and Safety Regulations reads as follows:
(3) All materials, goods or things shall be stored in a manner so that
[...]
(f) there is no risk to the health or safety of any employee.
(Emphasis added)
Under the Regulations, matériaux, marchandises et objets is translated by materials, goods and/or things. The legislation also refers to “the manner,” so I’m looking at the following options:
in a manner that was not hazardous to health and safety
in a manner whereby the risks to health and safety was reduced to a minimum
in such a manner that
in a manner so that
in a manner so as to prevent risks to health and safety
The Canada Occupational Health and Safety Regulations read as follows:
14.50 (1) All materials, goods and things shall be stored in the work place in such a manner that the maximum safe load carrying capacity of the floor or other supporting structures is not exceeded.
(2) All materials, goods or things shall be stored and placed in such a manner that employees are not required manually to lift materials, goods or things in a manner that would lead to overextension of or excessive strain on the body.
(3) All materials, goods or things shall be stored in a manner so that [...]
(Emphasis added) Canada Occupational Health and Safety Regulations (SOR/86-304)
I want to use the active voice to point the finger at the perpetrator. The sentence should also be concise and to the point. Thus, my proposed translation is as follows:
The company did not store materials, goods or things in a manner that minimized risks to health and safety.
As the language and spirit of the governing legislation must be respected, it is clear that OHS is a specialized field requiring considerable research.
N.B.: The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author.
