You're faced with a safety incident response. How do you navigate language barriers for quick communication?

All safety-related information must be in the language of those who need the information to be safe. It is the employer’s responsibility to provide the information in the language their employees can understand. This includes emergency management and all materials associated with emergency management. If the workforce is multilateral, all announcements need to be understandable by all employees. This is why a horn, whistle, blast accompanied by flashing lights is more effective than a verbal announcement. Drills are key to any successful emergency response but far to many companies focus on people movement than communication. And, because most drills are planned and announced, the drill does not measure the cost of translation.

Sinalizações de evacuação de área em caso de emergências são geralmente fáceis de entender e podem se assemelhar com sistemas existentes entre países, o que facilita uma possível evacuação. Sinalizar adequadamente todas áreas de saída de emergência pode fazer toda a diferença.

Translation during an emergency is good but it is not ideal. Emergency managers may reasonably have multiple concerns competing for mental bandwidth. Translation is unnecessary if the workforce has been provided all relevant information in their language and drills frequently enough to instill muscle memory. As the prompt indicates, one of the best uses of translating tools will be for first responders assessing injured people or gathering information from foremen and supers who may not speak the same language. Let’s be real, it is intimidating to confront an emergency response plan with the goal of being fully prepared for every person, regardless of the language challenges. But I will say, it is worth the effort.

A melhor forma de ter uma equipe qualificada e preparada para lidar com sinistros, como incêndios e acidentes graves, é investindo na qualificação contínua dos colaboradores. Pode parecer redundante enfatizar isso, mas muitos profissionais acreditam que um único treinamento eventual é suficiente para enfrentar essas situações. No entanto, é fundamental que os treinamentos sejam regulares e abrangentes, garantindo que a equipe esteja sempre pronta e capacitada para responder adequadamente a emergências.

Employers, this is for you. You must document EVERY effort you make to provide for the safety and welfare of your employees. This is especially true when addressing language barriers. All of your safety information must be in the language of those who need it to be safe. This includes JHAs. JHAs must either be in their native language, or there must be a record of who provided and received translation. The same goes for toolbox talks, safety stand downs, and all trainings. You must be prepared to refute any charge of failing to protect your employees, for any reason, but language barriers being a major reason.