Taking the entire product life cycle into consideration, Tokyo Electron carries out product risk assessments as early as possible in the development phase. We implement safe equipment design*¹ to reduce the risks posed to humans by incorporating the assessment results in the design.
We conduct global surveys of increasingly strict laws and regulations and conduct compliance checks through third-party assessment bodies to ensure conformity with international safety standards, SEMI S2*² and CE marking*³ on the equipment we ship.
We have also established a system to comply with safety regulations of the regions where our equipment is delivered while working with overseas companies.
Safe Equipment Design
Safe Design of Equipment
*1 Safe equipment design: A design concept that eliminates the cause of the machine's harm to humans through the safe design of the machine
*2 SEMI S2: A set of environmental, health and safety guidelines for semiconductor production equipment. It is used mainly by the leading manufacturers of
semiconductor equipment in the United States and Europe, not only for semiconductors but also as safe procurement guidelines for electric and electronic
device manufacturing equipment around the world.
*3 CE marking: When exporting into the European Union (EU), CE marking defines rules for displaying a CE mark as proof that the equipment is safe and
complies with EU-defined rules (directives)
Safety Education
In recent years, it has become increasingly important for us to ensure compliance with international safety standards and guidelines early in the equipment design and development processes. Since fiscal year 2008, we have been offering its engineers web-based training on safe equipment design. Through risk assessment exercises and examples of actual accidents, the participants acquire basic safety knowledge for equipment design.
In fiscal year 2016, we revised the education program using updated information, including new safety standards. In addition to the training for design engineers, we are also promoting equipment safety education for all workers in areas such as manufacturing, start-up, service, and on-site logistics. This allows these employees to apply the knowledge to the handling of equipment as well as assist in the development of safer equipment. From fiscal year 2017, lectures and training by outside experts are provided.
