Sometimes it is not the price or the deadline that is crucial, but the fulfilment of other special conditions that are necessary for the delivery of a high-quality and compliant translation. We should bear in mind that the documents we work on have different objectives, and that it is worth being flexible when dealing with every project. We accept every request that requires extra effort from us as an opportunity to develop and work on an interesting project.
One such interesting challenge for us is a partnership with a representative of a large chemical company. They need the translation of chemical product safety data sheets into a number of languages, such as Dutch, Italian, German and French. In order for the content of the safety data sheets to serve their purpose with their foreign branches and contractors, they need to be translated according to the very specialised phrases found in the REACH regulations. These are documents issued by the European Union, adopted for the purpose of improving the protection of human health and the environment against the threats posed by chemicals, while at the same time increasing the competitiveness of the chemical industry in the European Union.
When we received the first order, we were quite surprised by the set of links they provided for us related to the purpose of adapting the vocabulary in the translated safety data sheets to the content of the regulation. We obviously forwarded these links to the translators working on the preparation of the individual language versions of the documents as reference material. Each time we also instruct our suppliers working on projects for this customer to verify their translations with the content of the ordinances, which was certainly a challenge initially due to the volume of these documents. On top of this, we always check that the translators have followed the guidelines as part of our internal translation quality control, which we carry out before handing over the finished translation to the customer. Although the regulations themselves contain hundreds of pages, filled with almost solid text, over time both our project managers and translators have become skilled in navigating this documentation.
In order to streamline the work and eliminate the risk of errors in this type of translation, we also started to create a special dictionary, with the help of which the necessary sections of the regulation could be found efficiently without having to navigate through this huge amount of reference material. This allowed us to reduce the translation and proofreading times, as well as to provide the customer with the required translation quality.
The dictionary is constantly being updated and expanded, and the customer continues to work with us on expanding the partnership to include more languages. We have also selected a team of dedicated translators for this project, whose translations best meet the customer’s needs. Over time we have managed to offer the customer more attractive rates for this type of translation by expanding our translation memory.
Every project, even a seemingly difficult one, motivates us to learn new skills, find support materials and look for the best possible solutions. Flexibility and the desire to grow are the fundamentals of working in a translation agency. Even if you assume that nothing can surprise you in this job anymore, there is always going to be a request in the near future that calls for a new approach, fresh solutions and an unprecedented type of work on an order.
If you also face the need for translations performed according to highly specialised requirements, contact us. We are always focused on making an individual approach, tailored to your needs.
