RSI has been a very topical subject amongst the interpreter community during the past few weeks, following reports that some EU interpreters have suffered damage to their hearing which has been attributed to long-term exposure to substandard microphones and poor-quality broadband, along with other issues that the AIIC would like to see rectified.
Earlier this week, interpreters at the European Parliament voted to strike until conditions were improved, an action which led to parliament outsourcing interpretation to an external provider, further exacerbating relations with interpreters.
For me, remote working during the pandemic – and even still now – holds many advantages and I don’t want to wade into the debate on this matter. I do agree, however, that there should be suitable working standards for all workers no matter what their industry and it is great that this is being recognised for those of us who use our ears as our principal work tool.
For freelance interpreters, RSI enabled us to continue to work during the hardest of times, operating at a high level throughout the global pandemic, and still enables successful, quality, work with less travel, which in turn saves time, money and reduces our impact on the environment.
I hope a resolution can be reached very soon and that some good comes from all the dialogue and strike action.