Semiconductor manufacturing, which provides crucial parts for cars, phones, and computers, is a rapidly expanding industry that requires constant vigilance to keep safety standards current. In a recent fact sheet, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) discusses ways to keep up with industry safety standards, including developing a Safety and Health Management System (SHMS), implementing hazard controls and employee training, and being familiar with common risks in semiconductor manufacturing. The industry has common worksite risks like noise exposure, ergonomic injury, and falls, but a prevailing risk is chemical exposure. In addition to general industry safety standards, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) recommends that semiconductor fabricators strictly adhere to chemical exposure prevention guidelines.

     Fabricating semiconductors involves a multitude of hazardous chemicals that can cause reproductive, carcinogenic, or sensitization health hazards as well as physical risks like corrosivity, reactivity, flammability, and spontaneous combustion exposed to air or moisture, known as pyrophoricity. These chemicals are not just used in the manufacturing process but can also be byproducts, and those byproducts can create a mixture of wastes with their own unique dangers, such as combustible dust.

     Several of the chemicals used in this process have been introduced so recently that there may not be much toxicology data available for them, nor an established OSHA permissible exposure limit (PEL). When occupational exposure limits are unavailable, either from OSHA or another reputable agency like a government organization, OSHA recommends that anyone working with these chemicals follow Occupational Exposure Banding and Control Banding guidelines as well as the Hierarchy of Controls risk management principles in order to prevent chemical exposure.

     Preventing chemical exposure is most effective when a full safety program is in place that incorporates training and stringent hazard controls. This can include common safeguards like lockout-tagout (LOTO) and emergency machine off (EMO) procedures, fire detection and suppression systems, alarm systems, and emergency shower facilities. It may also include facility systems designed to prevent chemical exposure, such as ventilation in chemical use areas, coaxial piping of toxic gases, gas detection with automatic shutoffs, and separate chemical storage and transportation areas. Management and worker participation in a safety program or SHMS are both vital to develop and meet the program’s goals.

     In addition to the various hazard trainings that manufacturing workers should complete, OSHA recommends training in substance-specific health standards for relevant chemicals like arsenic and lead as well as Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response (HAZWOPER).

     Although OSHA does not have specific semiconductor standards, other agencies do. The Environmental Protection Agency has published a final rule on semiconductor emissions standards and the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) has its NFPA 318 Standard for the Protection of Semiconductor Fabrication Facilities. For more information on safety in semiconductor manufacturing, you can refer to OSHA’s fact sheet.