TSMC slows construction after accident kills four

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is suspending some construction work after an accident at one of its building sites in southern Taiwan led to the deaths of four workers.

The incident took place on Tuesday during steel structure construction at TSMC’s Fab 22 in Kaohsiung, the company said.

Workers fell from a height while performing steel structure hoisting and installation, a report from the Central News Agency said.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s Fab 22 is pictured under construction in Kaohsiung’s Nanzih District yesterday.

Photo: Lee Hui-chou, Taipei Times

A cause might be aged bolts, it said, citing a preliminary assessment by the Southern Taiwan Science Park Bureau.

The bureau said that work would only resume after Shang Hao Machinery Co (上昊機械), the four deceased workers’ employer, submits an improvement plan that passes review.

The bureau added that penalties would be determined based on the investigation and relevant occupational safety laws.

The construction site underwent three labor inspections last year and 18 this year, including a steel structure inspection on July 8, resulting in two other contractors total receiving fines of NT$210,000 (US$6,467), the bureau said.

TSMC said it immediately suspended work at Kaohsiung and halted similar steel structure construction at all of its sites across Taiwan while the company works with authorities to determine the cause of the accident.

The incident, which Chinese-language Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times) reported as the deadliest accident since construction began at the Kaohsiung site, comes as TSMC ratchets up production capacity to keep up with surging demand for advanced chips needed for artificial intelligence.

The Kaohsiung complex is one of TSMC’s key leading-edge manufacturing hubs — along with the company’s facilities in Hsinchu Science Park (新竹科學園區) — with 2-nanometer process technology needed to manufacture high-performance chips to maximize computing power for data centers.