![]() ![]() 9 The next year, the California Department of Industrial Relations in the U.S. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health concluded that ‘a larger, more systematic study’ was required to characterize medical problems and determine the size of the affected workforce. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health identified chemicals as ‘irritant’ and ‘narcotic’ in nature, although their concentrations were all well below the permissible exposure levels. In 1979, the US National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) conducted a health hazard evaluation in the Signetics fabrication plant in Sunnyvale, CA, where workers claimed chronic harmful exposure to chemicals. 4 In this context, social as well as scientific debates have become intensified regarding causality and liability for suspected occupational diseases. Technical development is so fast that it is nearly impossible to examine all of them, and the widespread practices of trade secrecy within the semiconductor industry make the situation worse. However, not enough is known regarding the full range of potential health effects of such exposures. The detailed explanations of work process and potential hazards in semiconductor production are found elsewhere. ![]() ![]() In addition, there exist ergonomic hazards including awkward positions, repetitive work, shift work, and job stress, most of which are not unique but common to manufacturing industries in general. Physical hazards including extremely low-frequency electronic magnetic and radiofrequency radiation are not negligible, and are known to be associated with cancer development. Air recirculation systems designed to minimize dust make workers more vulnerable to effects from these chemicals both singly and in complex combinations. Some individual chemicals are simply irritants to skin or respiratory organs, whereas others are carcinogens, reproductive toxins, and/or neurotoxins. 5 A variety of chemicals including organic solvents, acids, and metals are heavily used. In particular, the wafer-fabrication process includes material deposition, photolithography, etching, and doping, all of which include the use of hazardous materials. Work processes mainly consist of three steps – wafer manufacturing, fabrication, and packaging/testing, and at each step, there are various sub-processes. This industry is typically characterized by highly specialized processes, rapid technological innovation, significant chemical use, and large-scale investment to support such innovation and mass production, 4 all of which could influence workers' health and safety.Ĭontrary to its ‘clean’ image represented by ‘bunny suits’, semiconductor production includes a wide variety of hazards. Semiconductor global sales revenue reached US$307 billion as of 2011, 1 and the size of workforce is also huge for instance, the number of employees in just two countries – South Korea (hereafter Korea) 2 and Taiwan 3 – exceeds 290 000. However, with the growth of the computer industry, semiconductor manufacturing has taken the linchpin of the entire microelectronics industry. The semiconductor industry began as a parts production sector of the microelectronic industry in the 1960s. ![]()
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