Keeping Employees Safe: Industrial Hygiene Assessment for Semiconductor Facility
G2 is often retained for Industrial Hygiene Assessments to help facilities identify potentially hazardous conditions, as well as to assist with compliance and applicable health and safety standards. One of G2’s Certified Industrial Hygienists performed one such assessment at a semiconductor fabrication facility to address concerns about their employees’ exposure to cleaning chemicals during routine maintenance procedures.
The semiconductor fabrication industry uses either a dry etching or wet etching process to remove material and create recesses on semiconductor surfaces. Part of this process involves removing residue with special chemicals–an important step that influences the quality of the integrated circuit.
On the day of the assessment, one of the employees was asked to do preventative maintenance cleaning on a solvent bench that used a post-etching residue remover. The assessment would serve to determine the level of occupational exposure the employee had to one of the chemical components of the removal. This would be important for satisfying the facility’s internal health and safety metrics. And, pending the outcomes of the assessment, G2 would also be available to provide recommendations, assistance and direction regarding personnel exposure.
Over the 30-minute cleaning process (during which the employee wore the proper personal protective equipment), G2 monitored the employee’s personal breathing zone to determine the level of exposure to the chemical. The good news: G2’s analysis found no detectable level of the chemical in the air sample–a result well below the recommended exposure limits set by the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists and the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health.
Industrial Hygiene Assessments are an important way to protect your workforce and stay ahead of hazardous conditions that may arise. Have concerns about your facility? Don’t hesitate to get in touch with our team.