Growing interpreter injuries forces House of Commons to adjust audio set-ups

The federal government has been forced to adjust the set-up in the House of Commons and committee rooms after another language interpreter suffered a significant hearing injury.

The incident occurred April 8 during a closed-door meeting of the House foreign-affairs committee.

“I always do caution everyone to pay attention to that, because we have had many incidents,” Liberal MP Ali Ehsassi, the committee’s chair, said Monday.

“I certainly hope members (of Parliament) take it more seriously. It’s very disconcerting.”

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

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, which oversees labour standards in federally regulated workplaces, issued an order about the effect on April 25.

Written in French, the order noted that that a health and safety officer visiting the Hill the previous week 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 calls for changes to how meeting spaces are set up to prevent it from happening again.

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.

Stickers are now posted where MPs can place unused earpieces, along with printed instructions