service vs. department (2025)

Can these two be used interchangeably in French?

Have I used service correctly in the following paragraph? Please advise.

Thanks so much.

P.S. This is a translation of something that isn't particularly well written in English so bear with me.

Le Directeur de SSEQ à MUMI est chargé de compiler et développer le plan d’activité pour la santé et la sécurité. Des que le plan est remis à la Direction de MUMI et homologué, tous services recevra un exemplaire du plan.

Tout Chef de Département est exclusivement responsable que son service conforme totalement au plan. La Directeur de SSEQ à MUMI aidera dans la mise en pratique du plan dans tous services de la société.

Bestcongo, we need the term in English for the title, and the English sentence as the context. Please would you give the original English.

(Members cannot proofread for you, just answer your specific question.)

I would just like to know if service and department are synonyms and equally correct in French. I saw the department is an anglicisme and people in my office often use service, but I always used department in the past. Is one word choice preferable to the other?

Here is the original english.

It is the responsibility of Mumi SHEQ Manager to compile and develop the health and safety business plan. After the plan is submitted to Senior Management of Mumi and approved, all departments will receive a copy of this plan.

All Heads of Departments are solely accountable and responsible that his/her section fully comply with this business plan. Mumi SHEQ Manager will assist in the implementation of the plan on all operations and works under his control.

tubulure said:

You can use department or service as you want. In french, we try not to repeat a word so it's good to change.
for information, there is some mistakes in the sentences, i will say:
C'est au directeur de SHEQ à Mumi qu'incombe la responsabilité de créer et développer le plan d'activité Santé et Sécurité. Celui-ci sera distribué à tous les services après avoir été lu et approuvé par la direction de Mumi.
La responsabilite quant à l'application correcte de ce plan revient aux chefs de département. Le Directeur de SSEQ à MUMI aidera à la mise en pratique du plan dans tous lesservices de la société.

Click to expand...

I don't agree with your avoiding the repetition here by using both department and service, because "department" designates(?) an organisational unit, specific to this Mumi society. So, I'd say "distribué à tous les départements..." / "aux chefs de département" / "mise en pratique du plan dans tous les départements".

To avoid repeating "département" three times, you can change the two sentences.
"Celui-ci, après avoir été lu et approuvé par la direction de Mumi, sera distribué à (or rather "diffusé auprès de") tous les départements de la société.
Le Directeur de SSEQ à Mumi aidera à la mise en pratique du plan dans ces derniers. La responsabilité quant à son application correcte revient aux chefs de département."

Besides, in this specific case, you have to check how the services are called (services ou départements) and use it. In most cases, "services" covers all types of organisational units, but I know some organisations where both departments and services exist. Thus, department would target only the "départements" and not the "services", while using "services" would target... well, either only the "services" or the whole organisation, depending on the context and additional explanations in the text.