Industry groups address health, safety of fab workers
09/01/2002
Worker safety
by Sheila Galatowitsch
For the past 20 years, Don Lassiter, Ph.D., has collected annual data on work-related injuries and illnesses from semiconductor manufacturers-the same data the companies must report to the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).
But Lassiter, a public health scientist and managing consultant with Occupational Health Systems (OHS; Norman, OK), takes that data, codes it and analyses it to find out what types of cases are occurring and the causes behind them. In some instances, he works with the manufacturers to examine equipment and processes for potential risks. He then routes this information back to the manufacturers so that they can better understand their own as well as the industry's workplace health and safety record and seek preventative measures
Lassiter's yearly OHS benchmark survey, sponsored by the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA; San Jose, CA) and available for review at www.ohsys.com, shows a willingness on the part of the industry to address head-on potential workplace health and safety issues. "No other industry supports this level of detailed benchmarking," says Lassiter.
According to the latest OHS survey, just over half of all workplace injuries in the fab are due to ergonomic-type conditions (the worker interfacing in and with the workplace), resulting in muscular-skeletal disorders like carpel tunnel syndrome and repetitive motion and strain injuries. This incidence rate has remained constant over the past five years and holds true for general manufacturing industries as well.
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However, fab workers have a lower relative risk of injury compared to their peers in other industries. For 2000, according to data published by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (Washington, DC), the total recordable case (TRC) rate for injuries and illnesses was 2.4 cases per 100 full-time workers for the semiconductor industry. This rate was the fourth lowest TRC rate among all of the durable goods industries. The average for all such industries was roughly 10 cases per 100 full-time workers.
The incidence rates for the semiconductor industry (SIC 3674) for the year 2000 are for the total recordable case (TRC) rate for injuries and illnesses. You can view the complete table from the following link at U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Web site: http://www.bls.gov/iif/oshwc/osh/os/ostb1001.pdf. SIC 3674 can be found on page 5 (of 13) of the table.