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Wollongong City Council
Resident Visitor Business

Interpreter Service COVID-19 Safety Guidelines

We’ve developed this safety guide to keep you and other people safe while using our interpreter service.

All parties

  • Tell the Interpreter Service if you or any participant has flu or COVID-19 symptoms before, during or soon after the interpreter session.
  • Always maintain physical distancing (at least 1.5 metres).
  • Avoid hand shaking or touching.
  • Follow good hygiene practices. Wash your hands with soap and water or use hand sanitiser before and after each session.
  • Follow relevant Public Health Order requirements regarding wearing face masks.
  • Practice good cough and sneeze hygiene. Cover coughs and sneezes with a tissue or use your inner elbow.
  • You have the right to remove yourself from a session if you are concerned about your safety.
  • Use your own pen to complete/sign your own “Engagement of Services’ form and email it to the Interpreter Service.

Booking agency

  • Make sure the venue or building where the session is being held has a COVID-19 Safety Plan.
  • Make sure that the agency representative and client have not recently returned from overseas, ‘hotspot’ postcodes, or been in close contact with someone who has been diagnosed with COVID-19, or is waiting on results from COVID-19 testing.
  • Ensure the room allows for the required amount of physical distancing (4 square metres per person).
  • Inform the Interpreter Service if a client is in the vulnerable / high risk group.
  • Provide hand sanitiser and sanitise frequently-touched surfaces before each assignment.

The interpreter

  • You can refuse an assignment if you are concerned about your safety.
  • You can remove yourself from the session if someone displays COVID-19 and/or flu symptoms (fever, cough, sore throat).

It is a requirement that everyone (interpreter, booking agencies, agency representatives and clients) adheres to government safety recommendations regarding COVID-19. For the latest COVID-19 advice and information visit the NSW Health website.

You can also find links to COVID-19 information in community languages on our COVID-19 Multilingual Information page.

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