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Report on Japan SEMI Standards Meetings December 7-9, 2005

The Taiwan EHS Working Group has been upgraded to the status of a full Technical Committee (TC). This means that the group now has the ability to develop new SEMI guidelines. This change in status puts the Taiwan EHS Committee on the same footing as the EHS Committees for North America, Japan, and Europe. Therefore, it is the most significant change to SEMI’s EHS organization to take place since its inception. The Working Group has Task Forces (TFs) that are developing requirements for flat panel display manufacturing equipment, fire protection, and seismic stability. The specific impact on SEMI guidelines has yet to be determined, however, it will be an important development to monitor, as their activities unfold.

The Manufacturing Equipment Safety Sub-Committee (MESSC) reported that there is a growing acceptance of the SEMI-S2 guideline in Japan among Japanese end-users. The subcommittee plans to have a strong focus on SEMI Standards Technical Education Programs (STEPs) on SEMI-S2. Their plan is to hold two SEMI-S2 STEPs in 2006: December in Tokyo and June in Osaka.

New Safety Guideline for Flat Panel Display Manufacturing Systems

The ballot for Document 3114D (New Safety Guideline for Flat Panel Display Manufacturing Systems) was not approved, based on objections to the fact that the document did not include adequate fire protection information, in accordance with what is currently contained within SEMI-S2 and SEMI-S14. This safety guideline is getting very close to being approved and will most likely pass sometime in 2006.

Japanese end user consortium on 'Materials Declarations'

The Japanese end user consortium, JEITA, will be requiring ‘materials declarations’ from equipment manufacturers. This effort among Japanese end users appears to be moving in a similar direction as that of the European RoHS Directive (2002/95/EC on the Restriction of Use of Certain Hazardous Substances), but with additional requirements. While the consortium does not refer to specific substances yet, it leaves no ambiguity that it applies to semiconductor equipment. This is in line with the overall trend in Asia, mirroring European environmental directives, and potentially exceeding the requirements contained within them. This trend will also be something for the industry to watch as it develops.

The report from the IEC Technical Committee 111 (TC111), Working Group 3 (WG3) indicated that their document is still in process, the purpose of which is to detail the requirements for characterization of materials in electrical and electronic products. The general procedure will be to break down the product mechanically and then to perform chemical analyses on the resulting, chemically homogeneous materials.

Japanese EHS Committee

The Japanese EHS committee also took the following actions on safety guidelines that are being developed by active task forces.

• SEMI-S16, Guideline for Equipment Disposal: failed and will return to task force for rework.
• SEMI-S21, Guideline for Worker Protection: failed and will return to task force for rework.
• SEMI-S24: Safety Guideline For Multi-Employer Work Areas: had a number of small line-items pass.

Past News Updates:

Read the November 2005 IEC Standards Update (click here)

Read the October 2005 SEMI Standards Update (click here)

Read the July 2005 SEMI Standards Update (click here)

Read the March 2005 SEMI Standards Update (click here)

Read the December 2004 SEMI Standards Update (click here)

Read the October 2004 SEMI Standards Update (click here)

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