Parliament spaces out microphones after another interpreter is injured

OTTAWA • The federal government is being forced to adjust the setup in the House of Commons and committee rooms after another language interpreter suffered a significant hearing injury.

The Canadian Association of Professional Employees says the worker has been off for weeks, and the union is blaming inadequate equipment on Parliament Hill for multiple injuries.

The latest incident involved the Larsen effect, which occurs when a microphone and an earpiece get too close, resulting in sharp, sudden feedback that can be loud or frequent enough to permanently injure someone.

The federal Labour Program issued an April 25 order written in French, noting that a health and safety officer visiting the Hill the week before found exposure to the Larsen effect “constitutes a danger” for staff wearing headphones.

“Repeated exposure to the Larsen effect can cause permanent damage to the hearing health of interpreters,” reads the order, which called for changes to how meeting spaces are set up to prevent it from happening.

House of Commons Speaker Greg Fergus notified MPS on Monday morning that tables in committee rooms were rearranged to keep microphones and earpieces farther apart. Signs are now posted where MPS can place unused earpieces.

Fergus also reminded MPS not to touch the microphone or its stem when it's on, not to lean in and out from the microphone while speaking and not to adjust earpiece volume when sitting near a live microphone.

Experts have told Parliament that the staff who translate meetings between English and French are being put at risk of injury because they are straining to hear some voices and are exposed to sudden, loud noises.

“Despite an unacceptably high number of workplace injuries, the Translation Bureau has been slow to implement proper measures to protect their employees,” the union said on Saturday.

So many interpreters were placed on injury leave in 2022 that the public service hired contract workers to make up for the shortages.

The issue has constrained committee travel, since a certain number of interpreters are required.

Last year, the Labour Program found Ottawa was breaking labour laws by not adequately protecting interpreters, following an October 2022 incident in which a parliamentary interpreter was sent to the hospital in an ambulance after experiencing acoustic shock during a Senate committee meeting.