Jun 25, 2019 11:23
4 yrs ago
53 viewers *
Spanish term
medidas preventivas
Spanish to English
Bus/Financial
Business/Commerce (general)
Health & Safety
I'm looking to settle a gentle disagreement with a fellow translator about how to translate "medidas preventivas" into UK English.
She thinks "preventive measures" is fine whereas to me that is a *translatorism* and "health & safety measures" is a better translation - especially given that "prevención de riesgos laborales"/"PRL" is Health & Safety at Work (HASAW) in the UK.
Examples:
- RIESGOS EXISTENTES Y MEDIDAS PREVENTIVAS
- Medidas preventivas generales para PRL: el sentido común, nuestra seguridad y la de quien nos rodea nos hace poder fijar unas medidas preventivas generales para todos los sectores, que podríamos llamar “pautas de convivencia“...
- Las medidas preventivas son una serie de consejos básicos sobre seguridad y salud durante la construcción, con el fin de ayudar a prevenir los accidentes de los trabajadores y personas ajenas a las obras.
What do others think please? (prefer native UK English speakers opinions).
Let's nail this one! :-)
She thinks "preventive measures" is fine whereas to me that is a *translatorism* and "health & safety measures" is a better translation - especially given that "prevención de riesgos laborales"/"PRL" is Health & Safety at Work (HASAW) in the UK.
Examples:
- RIESGOS EXISTENTES Y MEDIDAS PREVENTIVAS
- Medidas preventivas generales para PRL: el sentido común, nuestra seguridad y la de quien nos rodea nos hace poder fijar unas medidas preventivas generales para todos los sectores, que podríamos llamar “pautas de convivencia“...
- Las medidas preventivas son una serie de consejos básicos sobre seguridad y salud durante la construcción, con el fin de ayudar a prevenir los accidentes de los trabajadores y personas ajenas a las obras.
What do others think please? (prefer native UK English speakers opinions).
Let's nail this one! :-)
Proposed translations
(English)
Proposed translations
+6
10 mins
Selected
preventive measures
I do see your point, but given that the source text mentions "PRL" (which presumably you have translated as HASAW) and ".... son una serie de consejos básicos sobre seguridad y salud..." around the term "medidas preventivas", wouldn't you then be faced with the repeated occurrence of "health and safety"? Or would you adapt the text to eliminate that repetition?
It's a while since I've translated health and safety documents, but I've certainly used the term "preventive measures" in that context a fair bit, and I would argue that it is one of several aspects of HASAW as a whole.
This article seems to draw a distinction between "preventive measures" and "health and safety measures":
It's a while since I've translated health and safety documents, but I've certainly used the term "preventive measures" in that context a fair bit, and I would argue that it is one of several aspects of HASAW as a whole.
This article seems to draw a distinction between "preventive measures" and "health and safety measures":
Note from asker:
@neilmac: not trying to be "smartypants"; trying to be "professional" and "consistent" ;-) |
Peer comment(s):
agree |
Charles Davis
: I agree; occupational risk prevention should not be conflated with health and safety, which is broader. H&S measures include protective as well as preventive measures (not to mention other kinds).
2 mins
|
agree |
franglish
1 hr
|
agree |
Wendy Streitparth
1 hr
|
agree |
James A. Walsh
2 hrs
|
agree |
AllegroTrans
11 hrs
|
agree |
neilmac
: Yes. No need to be smartypantses here....
19 hrs
|
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Many thanks everyone for indulging this question. I feel more comfortable now going with "preventive measures". I wasn't trying to be too "smartypants" (thanks for that Neilmac!) but wanting to get it right. I appreciate everyone's help and input. Thanks again."
12 mins
Preventive safety measures
I think that preventive measures still apply within the Health & Safety area, although maybe by adding "safety" it makes it clearer ?
I am not native - although living in the UK since 2003 - so I agree that feedback from native colleagues should take preference.
Good luck :-)
I am not native - although living in the UK since 2003 - so I agree that feedback from native colleagues should take preference.
Good luck :-)
Peer comment(s):
neutral |
Charles Davis
: "Safety" narrows it down too far. Preventive measures apply to health as well as safety, which are conventionally distinguished: preventing occupational diseases (think asbestos) as well as accidents. The overall term is risk prevention.
4 mins
|
+3
15 mins
risk prevention measures (in this context)
If you google "risk prevention measures" and "nhs" you get 3,410 hits, so this should be ok for UK audiences.
Peer comment(s):
agree |
Charles Davis
: It's fine, and is a good alternative (I have used this one myself).
1 min
|
Thanks, Charles
|
|
agree |
Gemma Eastabrook-Bonet
29 mins
|
Gracias, Gemma
|
|
agree |
AllegroTrans
11 hrs
|
Thanks, Allegro
|
+1
30 mins
health & safety measures
Instinctively, one would think translating medidas preventivas as preventive measures is fine because that is the literal translation.
However, preventive measures is mainly used within medical contexts:
The definition of preventive is something done to try to prevent an illness or undesirable outcome.
https://www.yourdictionary.com/preventive
While health and safety is the standard term used in the UK:
Health and safety in the workplace
Full risk assessments must be completed to identify risk and measures taken to reduce any risk as far as possible.
https://www.cnwl.nhs.uk/cnwl-occupational-health-service/hea...
However, preventive measures is mainly used within medical contexts:
The definition of preventive is something done to try to prevent an illness or undesirable outcome.
https://www.yourdictionary.com/preventive
While health and safety is the standard term used in the UK:
Health and safety in the workplace
Full risk assessments must be completed to identify risk and measures taken to reduce any risk as far as possible.
https://www.cnwl.nhs.uk/cnwl-occupational-health-service/hea...
Peer comment(s):
agree |
Adrian MM.
: Yeh, pronounced 'elf and safety' down Souf.
34 mins
|
Thank you, 'elf and safety' :)
|
|
neutral |
neilmac
: The 'elf and safety' pronunciation is pejorative and used by Brexiteer-types who pooh-pooh such unmanly concepts;)
18 hrs
|
9 hrs
mitigating measures
Also referred to as risk-mitigating measures. With English being the target, OSHA would be the gold standard for the reference.
see usage results.
https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C1CHBF_enUS820US820&biw=1...
see usage results.
https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C1CHBF_enUS820US820&biw=1...
Reference:
https://www.achdidaho.org/Documents/ACHDpolicyManual/1to4000/Section2100_SafetyHandbook.pdf
Discussion
Spanish is absolutely peppered with unnatural calques of English expressions (as are other languages) for the obvious reason that people deal with so many texts badly translated from English. It's less common, however, for unnatural literal English translations of Spanish expressions to creep into common use, except, I suppose, among translators. That, of course, is why it's so important to take great pains to ensure that the examples one uses from the Internet to support a particular English usage are genuine English, "uncontaminated" by contact with another language. It's often not obvious until you look carefully.
However, it's a hobby horse of mine to challenge/weed out terms that are not "natural" in English and that have become standard simply by overuse. It's a bit like that saying "a lie doesn't become a truth if you keep repeating it". I see a lot of those types of terms in EU and academic documents. A good example is "movilidades" for universities, to refer to Erasmus exchanges, placements abroad and so on - "mobilities" sits badly with me, but it does appear to now be a common term in the UK. Even so, I couldn't bring myself to use it (!), so plumped for Billhill's very helpful other options (mobility opportunities, mobility activities, or mobility programmes). Like I say, it is a hobby horse of mine :-)
I'm sure that is what Comunican meant by "translatorism". But a literal translation can be accurate, appropriate and idiomatic, with or without further thought. Efforts to avoid literal translations simply because they are literal give rise to a lot of inaccuracies.