Why is translation important in chemical industry?

by Target Language Translation Services

- July 29, 2021

Chemical translation services are utilized by businesses to ensure clarity and accuracy in the chemical industry when they want to succeed in global markets.

When it comes to most chemical translations, the greatest demand is for an incredibly high level of technical accuracy. After all, documents from the industry can refer to highly complex chemical formulae. They might also have huge financial resources resting on their success in attracting new clients.

Professional chemical translators may find themselves translating everything from product specifications and chemical engineering manuals to press releases and marketing materials to patents and legal contracts.

As a professional in the chemical industry, you will need your chosen linguist to ensure your translated documents are precise, that they comply with legal requirements and that they are clear and precise, as well as suitable for task. Because of the nature of chemicals, any inaccuracy in their translation can be life-threatening to the people that handle and use them. This need for clear and precise translation makes it imperative for companies to work closely with a trusted translation partner.

Here’s something you need to know about choosing the right chemical translation service for your specific project:

Hire expert chemical translators and interpreters

Always look for a translation agency which hires translators with actual knowledge of the chemical industry. Preferably, the specific part of it – for instance agrochemicals, petrochemicals, plastics manufacturing or materials science – which you operate in.

For example, Target Language Translation Services always makes sure your project is placed in the hands of linguists who have a minimum of five years’ experience or Masters degree-equivalent qualifications in your chosen field. Many of the translators we hire are current or former materials scientists or chemists themselves.

Having access to subject matter expertise is the only way to ensure that your final translation will be accurate.

Select native speakers

Only a linguist who is a native speaker of your target language and who is intimately familiar with the culture in the region you are targeting can properly judge how natural a translated text is and how clear its message will be.

For multilingual projects, such as an e-learning course for employee training or a website which is designed to accommodate speakers of multiple languages, this means you need native speakers for each language or dialect you are targeting. Of course, it’s also crucial to remember that languages have dialects. Thus, aiming to produce a specific version of your content is rarely a precise enough goal.

See if your provider have strict regulations

The chemical industry is governed by rigorous regulations that must be . These regulations involve the impact of chemicals on human health and on the environment.

Countries around the world, like Canada, China, and countries in the European Union have put chemical regulations in place that shift the responsibility from their governments to chemical manufacturers regarding public disclosure of the safety of chemical products.

This shift, through domestic substances lists, or REACH provisions and regulations (Registration, Evaluation, Authorization, and Restriction of Chemical substances), makes it essential that details about chemical composition and use are translated properly. Inaccuracies in translation or phrasing can have serious consequences, not only for the distribution of a manufacturer’s product, but also for their potential liabilities.

Keep in mind the challenges of localization

Native speakers from your target region will help you comprehend things like cultural reference points, sensitivities and expectations.

These are things which can be easy to overlook or generalize about. But without which, any message can fall flat. Or worse, transmit a completely different or confusing message because the translation was based on a faulty understanding of how the target audience views the world – or even how they comprehend certain words.

It’s easy enough to imagine how much chaos or confusion this could cause even when we’re thinking about something simple like a safety sign. When we’re talking about complex chemical formulae or instructions, the potential for possibly dangerous misunderstandings to arise grows much larger.

Check out terminology management

Technical terms can be difficult to understand, especially when included in product user manuals or guides. The chemical field, like most other industries, has its own particular jargon.

Only a translator who is educated and experienced in the chemical translation industry will be able to precisely translate complex terminology into understandable terms suited for the intended audience.

In addition to industry-specific knowledge, effective chemical translation services will apply a terminology management process that ensures consistency in terminology translation. Beyond technical terminology, terminology management extends to product names and even company-specific terminology.

Take notice if your provider wants to discuss terminology with you

Before a project begins, an experienced translator will want to agree with you how certain terms and phrases will be translated.

This should lead to the joint development of glossaries of terms. These glossaries could contain: technical terminology, branded or corporate terms, agreed transcreations or transliterations of slogans, branding or marketing terms

The vital thing is that a professional translation agency will almost certainly be proactive in asking you to work with them to determine agreed translations for important terms.

Inspect your LSP’s accreditation

Another significant step on the path to finding the right chemical translation agency is to check their accreditations. You might look for things like: Accreditation from organizations, Membership of industry bodies, International certification such as the ISO:9001 quality standard, etc.

See what Quality Assurance they offer

Finally, you will want to be sure of the quality assurance processes which your chosen LSP has in place.

Professional editing and proofreading of your translated content should be the minimum you’re looking for. On top of that, there are other things you might need for particularly vital content. You might want to look for:

Editing – a professional editor will see to it that your translated content makes the right impact checking for things like tone, voice, clarity, consistency and whether there are unnecessary words which might benefit from being removed.

Proofreading – a proofreader checks that your translator and editor have done their jobs well to make sure that your document is ready to be published by checking spelling, grammar, punctuation and formatting as well as making other improvements which give writing which is already excellent a further quality boost.

Back translation and reconciliation – because of the complexity and frequently high-value nature of projects within the chemical industry, it can be a good idea to investigate the possibility of requesting back translation and reconciliation of your content. This essentially involves translating the content back into its original language to ensure messaging is preserved.

Types of chemical translation services

It’s not just product labels and warning signs that chemical translation services are used for. The chemical industry is a largely globalised one, meaning there is a need for multilingual documents in almost every corner of it:

Technical documents

There are a variety of various documents that manufacturers in the chemical industry need to translate. These include documents, related to productions, sales and use of products that are being sent to regions that speak a different language. Some examples are:

• Patents research and filing

• Product Specifications

• Packaging & Labeling

• Toxicology Reports

• Catalogs

• Training Manuals

• Websites

• Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS)

• Marketing and Corporate Communications

• Legal, commercial and employment contracts

• EHS information

• Chemical engineering manuals

• Chemical manufacturing SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) manuals

• Hazard assessments

Depending on the locations where the chemicals are to be used, these documents must be translated into a variety of languages.

From global announcements to packing information and terminology management, issues specifically related to the chemical industry are complex.

Related documents and content

There is also a large amount of related material which professionals in the chemical industry need to translate which include materials related to the advertising, sale and use of products, company reputation, communications and the like:

• PR announcements and press releases

• Marketing materials

• Video content

• Internal communications

• E-learning and other training materials

• Catalogues

• Websites

• Software

Verbal communication

In addition to written communications, in an increasingly globalised industry, there is large-scale need to communicate with professionals who speak various languages verbally.

Critically, there’s a need to be able to do so while maintaining precise understanding when referencing chemical compositions and the like.

Whether it’s communicating within your own multinational team, keeping your global corporate vision whole or dealing with employees, stakeholders and partners in countries around the world, hiring specialist interpreters with experience or qualifications in the chemical industry is an absolute must.

These days, the existence of remote interpreting services makes organizing language support more cost-effective and convenient than it has ever been before.

This article is reprinted from International Language Services and Asian Absolute.

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