Wolfestone News

Health and Safety - Don’t leave it open to interpretation

Migration can be a positive issue for a country and especially for business. Due to migration from Poland for example, UK businesses have had access to additional skilled workers and cheaper labour. Some companies state that after cost effectiveness, the main reason they prefer employing migrant workers to their British counterparts is that the migrant workers have a better attitude towards work. All of this makes for good business sense when it comes to employing staff.

Recently though companies are beginning to discover the measures which they must take to protect their new workforces and the risks they may be taking if they don’t. For example an Uxbridge based company Ethos Recycling Ltd were recently fined £35,000 and ordered to pay £3000 in costs after one of their Romanian employees who spoke little English lost a leg in a tragic accident at work after having only worked there a couple of weeks, the company pleaded guilty to two breaches of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. Zameer Bhunnoo, HSE investigating inspector said: "With the increase of foreign workers in Britain, it is essential that companies who need their skills take care to ensure workers fully understand what is required of them, and how to avoid risks in the workplace’

Increasing pressure for employer’s responsibility towards employees is The Corporate Manslaughter Act (in England and Wales) and The Corporate Homicide Act (in Scotland) which were recently Introduced by the Government. In addition, the HSE (Health and Safety Executive) have issued a warning to employers to ensure that each member of staff must fully understand health and safety policies and procedures, regardless of whether they speak English or not. Employees must be able to understand policies and procedures fully, if they do not 100% understand written English then these policies and procedures must be provided in a language that they do understand fluently. These new policies reinforce your duty of care toward employees because senior management can be held responsible if it is found that health and safety has been overlooked in any way after an accident.

So which industries are most affected by these new laws? It is the higher risk industries in particular that will have to take note of the warnings, for example the construction industry has seen an increase in the number of overseas workers entering the British labour market. Often these workers will not understand your written health and safety documents and operations manuals. David Bentley-Miller, Managing Director of the national Employment law and Health & safety specialists Bentley Miller Ltd comments that ‘It is astonishing how often you see companies who have a state of the art health and safety system which is written in English, then a full Polish workforce who are unable to understand a word!’ It is the employer’s responsibility to make sure that they receive the necessary training and understand fully.

There are ways that you can ensure that your non fluent-English speaking staff can understand your health and safety documents and one of these is translation, this could be especially useful if you have migrant workers from many different countries in one organisation.

Professional translation companies should only use native speakers to translate their documents, this is to make sure that there are no grammatical or language mistakes or errors that could lead to confusion or misunderstanding. Roy Allkin, Managing Director of leading language services company Wolfestone Translation Ltd adds ‘At Wolfestone Translation we only use professionally qualified translators who translate into their mother tongue. So if you need an English health and safety document translated into Polish one of our native speaking Polish translators experienced in this area would carry out the translation. This ensures accuracy across your documents and also ensures full comprehension throughout your work force’.

British law constitutes that once somebody has signed a document the signature confirms that they have read it, having a document translated into your workers native language would give you extra piece of mind that the employee has read and understood.

Translation can be used to translate your website, all of your health and safety documents and training videos. If you cannot 100% guarantee that your employee understands your Health and Safety documents in English then get them translated, It is much cheaper then the alternative of potentially huge fines and the associated legal expenses.

Swansea company host Networking Event and Charity Fundraiser

Wolfestone Translation creates opportunity for local businesses

Local business merges networking event and charity fundraiser in Swansea. On the 8th November, Wolfestone Translation Ltd, a Swansea based company which deals with translation and interpreting services is hosting a networking event with a difference. As well as informing existing and potential clients about how translation services can enable businesses to trade more effectively and presenting their new website, Wolfestone Translation also see the event as an ideal way to raise awareness and funds for local charity Hafal.

Hafal is Walesâ€™ leading charity for people with severe mental health problems and their carers, and the charity use Wolfestone to translate their promotional material which enables them to operate bilingually throughout Wales and reach otherwise disenfranchised communities of ethnic minorities.

This multi purpose event will be held at CafÃ© Nisse on Wind Street, a cafÃ© often used to exhibit art due to its town centre location and contemporary interior. The event will incorporate an international theme with food and drink from around the world. This is in keeping with Wolfestone Translationâ€™s ethos, as the company trades and recruits internationally and deals with translating documents to and from any language.

Local businesses will be invited to the event which should be hailed as a great opportunity for small and large businesses within Swansea to meet, network and also have a good time. There will be plenty of information from business development organisations and relevant support services as well as the opportunity to meet these representatives. For more information regarding Wolfestone Translation or Hafal please use the contact details below.

0845 000 0083 sales@wolfestone.co.uk

Translation can help Welsh businesses overcome the barriers of language in a global marketplace

We may give no thought at all to translation companies in our day to day lives until we need something. Previously, translation was always something we saw on television or in subtitles on foreign films.

Think of it this wayâ€¦ imagine being on holiday, in a hot country where you don't speak the language. Perhaps you've been stuck on a bus or you have been soaking up the sun for several hours. You are thirsty. How do you order one of those delicious looking cold drinks when you cannot speak the language?

Ok, maybe the locals speak English, very likely in many tourist destinations around the world. What if you are a business trying to make a profit? Do you just sell to customers who speak your language or do you be bold and sell to anyone in the world who can pay for your product or service?

In the past most of us only did business in our own country or even just a local area. We rarely did business abroad because that meant expensive telephone bills and leaving the country

Those days are long gone.

The internet, mobile phones and cheap international travel have brought us all together in a way only dreamed of in the past.

This has coincided with the collapse of the traditional industrial economy which relied on manual labour in heavy engineering, mining and steel production. Incidentally those jobs have now migrated to Eastern Europe, South and East Asia, where languages and dialects continue to be a barrier in trade between Welsh companies and these emerging markets.

Now we can sell to at least 500 million people living in the expanded European Union. We can potentially sell to billions around the world, because we can talk to them in real time through the World Wide Web or on a tiny handset you can keep in your pocket.

Taking advantage of this opportunity is not easy; you have to be prepared to do substantial research into your desired market which also means into their customs and use of language. Advertising that you may have used in this country may be completely inappropriate for a foreign marketplace.
There have been incidents where even big business have made mistakes, for example, the fast food chain KFC discovered that its "Finger-Lickin' Good" slogan translated into Chinese as "Eat Your Fingers Off." Not very appetising.

This is where professional translation comes in; a good translation company can make all the difference between struggling to survive and connecting to consumers in their own language and mindset. Translation facilitates the building of relationships between business in Wales and the emerging markets of the new European Union members, such as Poland and Bulgaria, and the emerging economies of India and East Asia such as China, Vietnam and Malaysia.

This is something that the Welsh Assembly has observed. Enterprise Minister Andrew Davies says China offers â€œa huge potential market for Welsh exporters which was highlighted in a recent report by Grant Thornton on the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) economies and the major trade opportunities they presented for Welsh businesses.â€�

According to the report, BRIC economies will account for 44% of global gross domestic product by 2050 - yet 87% of UK companies do not or have no plans to export to China and are failing to make the most of the opportunitiesÂ available in these fast expanding economies.

(Source: http://new.wales.gov.uk/topics/businessandeconomy/news/14.03.07eur?lang=en)

For the flooring manufacturer Amtico "Talking to customers in their own language is a key strategy for us globally. Not only are business customers more likely to buy when sales material is in their own language, but customer service costs can be reduced if installation information is shown in the user's native language.

Amtico may not be a Welsh company, but surely their experience says something about the opportunity that has been presented to us.

The reverse can also be true. Imagine trading with a company in India, the contract or terms and conditions they send to you may well be in Punjabi, Hindi, etc. Having this translated into English means that you can be sure that the terms you negotiated are actually what are set down in the governing documents.

Besides helping to open up possibilities on the frontier of globalisation, a translation company can help an employer connect to new foreign members of the workforce. The ability to communicate to the workforce in their own language will make management considerably easier, boosting the efficiency and the cohesion of the company.

In South Wales a Swansea based translation company called Wolfestone Translation Ltd is ready to help Welsh business trade internationally. The company themselves began as a very small business working from a bedroom at home. 2 years on and the company is already expanding. As well as a substantial compliment of staff and a new website Wolfestone Translation has moved into a suite of offices and the opportunity for international expansion has presented itself with their first overseas office opening in the near future. By the very nature of translation, Wolfestone can operate purely electronically meaning that translations are quick for the customer but it also means that the company has been able to expand their client database globally more rapidly than most.

One of the Directors of Wolfestone Translation, Roy Allkin, commented that â€˜we pride ourselves on enabling local companies to operate bilingually in Welsh and English, but because we have the capabilities to translate to or from any language we can also help Welsh business to make a move into an international market, enhance profitability and help the Welsh economy grow, that is our ultimate goal.
The race for international business is on so let's ensure that Welsh business makes it's mark.

For information regarding translation or for a quote please contact:
Wolfestone Translation Ltd
sales@wolfestone.co.uk
0845 000 0083