The hazards of the semiconductor industry:
- They use thousands of chemicals for manufacturing chips, but the names of the chemicals are not disclosed.
- The Korean government has been protecting the profits of the company rather than the right to know of workers by saying that the information about the toxic chemicals is a ’trade secret’ of the company.
- The air in the cleanroom is filtered to remove the particles but the filters don’t remove the toxic vapors and various gases. The cleanrooms are designed to protect the wafers, not the workers.
- There are also hazards from X-ray, UV, and EMF from high-voltage and/or high-temperature of facilities in the chip plants.
- It is only recently that protective devices have been installed. But workers are often forced to turn them off in order to keep up with the production rate.
- The personal protective equipment (bunny suit) is designed more to protect the wafers more than the workers.
