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Major Revisions Underway for SEMI S2, S8, and S10 Safety Guidelines

By Kevin Nguyen, SEMI

Originally published in 1995, SEMI S8-0218, Safety Guideline for Ergonomics Engineering of Semiconductor Manufacturing Equipment, has been the standard for improving ergonomic conditions for workers in the semiconductor industry by reducing the risk factors that lead to discomfort. While it has seen multiple revisions over the years to reflect evolving best practices, the last update was released in 2018 — and now, a major overhaul is underway. Ballot 7134A, issued in Cycle 1-2025, proposed significant changes to SEMI S8. It received 214 comments and negatives, ultimately failing the EH&S Technical Committee Chapter review during the Winter 2025 meeting. Since then, the task force has been actively addressing the feedback through weekly teleconferences (refer to the Figure 1 below for progress) and aims to reissue the ballot soon.


Figure 1: Progress of Comment and Negative Resolution

 

Meanwhile, ballot 7169, a major revision to SEMI S10-0423, Safety Guideline for Risk Assessment and Risk Evaluation Process, has been balloted in Cycle 3-2025.

The proposed update of this ballot includes the following:

  • Separating facility/building risk assessment to a non-normative portion of the document (e.g., RI)
  • Ensuring that risks related to personnel or the environment (i.e., “E,” “H,” or “S”) are calculated separately from risks to commercial objects (i.e., equipment).
  • Clarifying how assessing risks of observed events differs from assessment of risks of foreseen events.

The results of this ballot will be reviewed during the North America Summer Standards Meetings on June 5, 2025 at the EH&S TC Chapter meeting being held at SEMI HQ in Milpitas, California.

In addition, ongoing discussions have highlighted the need to better define safety interlock systems used in SEMI S2-0724, Environmental, Health, and Safety Guideline for Semiconductor Manufacturing Equipment, as they were previously deemed inadequate. After a thorough review, it became apparent that correcting potential conflicting information was necessary. As a result, the SEMI S2 Major Revision Task Force (TF) — led by Lucian Girlea (Nikon Precision) and Clifton Brick (Axcelis) — expanded its scope to encompass a major revision.

The TF has been meeting weekly for nearly two years to discuss this intricate standard. A major revision of SEMI S2 will have a significant impact on equipment suppliers, end users, third-party evaluators, and others. The TF will issue an informational ballot to the general audience for broader feedback and will use these results to refine the development of a formal Letter ballot.

Get Involved

SEMI Standards development activities take place throughout the year in all major manufacturing regions. To get involved, join the SEMI International Standards Program at: www.semi.org/standardsmembership.

For more information, please visit our main Web site and current events page. If you have any questions regarding SEMI Standards activities, please contact your local SEMI Standards staff.

 

Standards Watch
SEMI
www.semi.org
April 17, 2025