Study reports on the sound transmitted to interpreters and its effects
There are few studies on the sound transmitted to interpreters and its long-term effects on their health. The Translation Bureau has called on leading experts in acoustics and audiology from Canada and other countries to fill this gap. This ensures that the Bureau has the most accurate data to determine the best ways to protect interpreters.
The reports submitted to the Translation Bureau by the sound specialists are listed below. If you would like to have access to any of these reports, please contact the Translation Bureau.
| Title | Date | Author | Description | Language |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Characterization of the Translation Bureau Hearing Protection Solution | May 2020 | National Research Council Canada | Study of a hearing protection solution signal amplification and level safety limitation hardware system composed of a headset amplifier, the PreservEar limiter and a KOSS headset, in order to determine the ability of such a system to protect interpreters from hearing injuries. | English |
| Simultaneous Interpreting During COVID-19 | May 2020 | CSA Research | Study on the Impact of COVID-19 on Conference Interpreting in Public Institutions throughout the world. | English |
| Motu–8A Testing Results | November 2020 | National Research Council Canada | Study to assess the behaviour and the performance of the Motu-8A audio interface unit under different conditions in combination with a KOSS Porta PRO headset to determine its ability and suitability to protect interpreters from hearing injuries. | English |
| Parliament Hill measurements | November 2020 | National Research Council Canada | Study using recorded Parliament sessions to better understand the constraints and the working environment of interpreters for an efficient preparation of a test procedure to thoroughly assess the behaviour of different interpretation consoles deployed on the Parliament Hill. | English and French |
| Working Conditions for Simultaneous Interpreters During COVID-19 | February 2021 | CSA Research | Study on how public institutions throughout the world have adapted their practices for delivering distance interpreting. | English |
| Evaluation of the Sound Quality in the House of Commons and Committee Rooms Interpretation Booths | October 2021 | National Research Council Canada | Assessment of the speech quality of the signal offered to interpreters by the interpretation consoles and the audio-video system in diverse operating scenarios including various ZOOM videoconferencing and network settings. | English and French |
| Load and Fatigue in audio remote interpreting and video remote interpreting | March 2022 | University of Geneva | The purpose of this study was to measure, using a multimethod approach, how the quality of sound affects interpreters’ load and fatigue during Audio and Video Remote Interpreting. | English |
| Data analysis results of the Audio Video system at the House of Commons | December 2022 | National Research Council Canada | Following the National Research Council’s 2021 data acquisition and analysis campaign, a series of audio-video system improvements were performed by the House of Commons team to address issues. This study aims to demonstrate the achieved performance of the upgraded system. | English |
| Simultaneous interpretation audio signals random testing in real work situations | April 2023 | National Research Council Canada | Study addressing the instruction given by the Labour Program to the Translation Bureau to conduct random testing of the audio-visual systems in the House of Commons and the Senate committee rooms in a real work situation, to ensure that the system is safe for the hearing system of employees in accordance with International Organization for Standardization (ISO) standard 20109:2016. | English and French |
| Opinion on the Results of Spectral Sample Analyses of the Signal to Booth Consoles for Translation Bureau of Canada Interpreters | May 2023 | Ottawa University | Opinion on the harmfulness of the sound signal to interpreters’ headsets, based on the data available in scientific literature and on spectral analyses by Western University and the National Research Council Canada of the electroacoustic signals emitted by the console connected to the interpreters’ headsets. | English and French |
| Frequency Analyses of Parliament Recordings | May 2023 | Western Ontario University | Analysis of the frequency content of live speech recordings collected in the Senate and House of Common rooms. | English and French |
| Hearing protection safeguards testing and interpreters sound pressure levels exposure assessment during real-life committee sessions | June 2023 | National Research Council Canada | Study aiming to assess the performance of the system safeguards in critical conditions such as Larsen effect events or any signal amplitude sudden increase, as well as to provide a better understanding of interpreter’s real-life acoustic environment in terms of amplitude levels during real committee sessions. | English and French |
| Opinion on the analysis results for sound pressure levels measured in Translation Bureau of Canada interpreters’ headsets during measurements in controlled and real-life conditions | July 2023 | Ottawa University | Opinion on the harmfulness of the sound signal to interpreters’ headsets, based on sound pressure level analyses by the National Research Council Canada of samples recorded in controlled and real-life conditions. | English and French |
| Interpreter Console Sound Pressure Level Measurements in Parliament Rooms | July 2023 | Western Ontario University | This study reviews the results presented in the National Research Council’s June 2023 report, discusses the implications from a sound dosage perspective, and outlines recommendations for future action. | English and French |
| Interpreter Working Conditions | October 2023 | CSA Research | For the third time since the beginning of the pandemic, CSA Research conducted a study for the Translation Bureau on the state of measures taken by public institutions for both in-person and remote interpreting. This report details the results of the latest study conducted from May to June 2023 with heads of interpreting departments at international institutions. | English and French |
| A Look at the Hearing Health Status of Interpreters at the Translation Bureau of Canada—Interim report, phase 1 results | October 2023 | University of Ottawa, Laval University | This study’s aims to determine the sound level required for interpreting compared to passive listening; to inventory the symptoms experienced by the interpreters as a result of the acoustic conditions to which they are exposed in the course of their work; and to examine hearing health status and various auditory system functions in Translation Bureau interpreters. This interim report includes a summary of the data obtained from interpreters during phase 1 of the study. | English and French |
Related links
- Understanding remote simultaneous interpretation
- Translation Bureau's language services and tools (only accessible on the Government of Canada network)
- Contact the Translation Bureau
- About the Translation Bureau
- Date modified: