Introduction:

SEMaCheck (Sandia Ergonomic Maintenance Checklist) is a comprehensive ergonomic checklist developed by Sandia to collect information on ergonomic stressors experienced while performing maintenance tasks on semiconductor manufacturing equipment. SEMaCheck uses graphical drawings of unsafe and time-consuming behaviors to communicate with its users. It is comprehensive, in that it provides space for the recording of the stressor, its difficulty level, time penalties associated with the task, what errors could occur, and the consequence level of the error. It is designed to be completed in three sessions; prior to going in the field, real-time field observations, and post-observation analysis. Several aspects of front-end tool maintenance are covered, including all physical and cognitive stressors associated with diagnosis, computer interaction, documentation, workflow, clearance and access, lifting and loading, pushing and pulling, body postures used, controls and displays, hand tools, and impact and vibration.

Benefits:

• can also be applied to non-semiconductor manufacturing tools
• can be used by on-site safety or ergonomics staff
• maintenance manager can assess ergonomic-related inefficiencies in getting maintenance performed
• designed to be easy to use in the field
• potential increases in tool availability can be assessed
• tool designers can use to design equipment for ease of maintainability
• tool users can use as performance criteria in generating acceptance specs
• digital and paper format for ease of portability

 Applications:

This checklist was originally developed for SEMATECH, an international consortium of microelectronics manufacturers. An earlier version of SEMaCheck was used in SEMATECH research to evaluate the ergonomic inefficiencies involved in servicing front-end microelectronics processing tools. The checklist was used successfully by six ergonomists, who observed 28 maintenance tasks performed on seven different tools. Using data from 250 field observations recorded in the checklist, the ten most significant ergonomic stressors were identified. It was found that if ergonomic redesigns were employed, maintenance time could be reduced 27 percent, and availability could be increased up to 25 percent for low-availability machines.

Availability:

Checklist is free to all US users

Contact:

Kathy Cash at (505) 844-6920 to place order