OSHA Outlines Hazards in Rapidly Changing Semiconductor Manufacturing Industry

A fact sheet published last month by OSHA is intended to promote safety in the semiconductor manufacturing industry, which produces materials used in devices such as personal computers, smartphones, and cars. Workers in this industry may be exposed to hazards such as solvents, toxic metals, and radiation. Chemicals used in the semiconductor manufacturing industry may be carcinogenic, toxic to reproduction, or cause sensitization. They also may present physical hazards, including flammability, corrosivity, reactivity, and pyrophoricity.

According to OSHA, the semiconductor manufacturing industry has expanded greatly during the last 70 years. Rapid changes in processes contribute to a need to conduct hazard assessments more often and ensure workplace controls are current, OSHA explains. One concern is that many chemicals currently used in the industry have been introduced relatively recently, and many lack established permissible exposure limits or adequate toxicological information. And PELs already established for some chemicals “may be outdated and inadequate for ensuring protection of worker health,” OSHA states. For such chemicals, the agency encourages employers to adhere to more protective occupational exposure limits from technical, professional, industrial, and government organizations.

Prevention through Design, safety and health management systems, controls, and training are among the tools that occupational and environmental health and safety professionals and others can use to protect workers engaged in semiconductor manufacturing. These and other topics, such as EPA requirements, industry and consensus standards, and OSHA standards, are discussed in the new fact sheet, which is available as a PDF from OSHA’s website.

Further information about semiconductors is collected on an OSHA safety and health topic page.