Earthquake Continuity Plans Surpassing Legal Requirements
Following the September 21, 1999, Chi-Chi earthquake in Taiwan, TSMC has laid down a series of earthquake protection management plans surpassing legal requirements. The company has conducted a comprehensive investigation on all buildings and facilities, set up dampers to improve building structures, and adopted new anti-seismic technologies and methodologies to assess and control the risks.
TSMC's strategy is to simultaneously enhance the seismic resistance of facilities along with emergency response skills. On February 6, 2016, another earthquake struck southern Taiwan, in Mei-Nong District of Kaohsiung. It was the most powerful earthquake experienced by TSMC Fab 6 and Fab 14 in Tainan Science Park. With the above antiseismic methodologies, TSMC's Fabs were safe from structural damage, chemical leakage, process tools misalignment, fire and casualty.
Pioneering Anti-seismic Methodologies
| Year | Methods |
|---|---|
| 2000 | The seismic coefficient was improved beyond legal requirements by as much as 25% for main structure of new buildings, 50% for nonstructural components. New seismic anchorage was installed onto equipment and facilities. |
| 2008 | The greatest potential earthquake hazard analysis of each site, evaluation of anti-seismic ability of hardware facilities. Dampers were installed along with new Fab; seismic response was reduced by 15 - 20%. |
| 2012 | Floating piles were installed in new Fabs of Tainan Science Park, which decreased seismic amplitude by 25% in the Fabs. Evaluation of raised floor shaking table test and improvement of process tool anchorage. |
| 2013 | Installation of seismic isolation platform onto furnace tool. |
| 2015 | Establishment of Earthquake Early Warning System. |
| 2016 | Additional stoppers were installed for tower stocker to prevent sliding and ceiling bracings added to strengthen ceiling. |
TSMC Anti-seismic Methodologies Timeline
Post-earthquake Enhancement Actions
| Actions | |
|---|---|
| External Experts Consultation | Inviting earthquake engineering experts from Taiwan, the U.S. and Japan to the three-day " Earthquake Hazard Reduction Workshop" in TSMC |
| Improvement of Building Seismic Coefficient | TSMC improved seismic resistance of all the Fabs, the seismic coefficient was enhanced and surpassed government regulation by 1.25 times for main structure and 1.5 times for Nonstructural components. |
| Seismic-resistance Assessment of Existing Buildings | Conducting a comprehensive investigation of existing buildings with the latest Pushover method of external experts to reinforce building structures according to standards surpassing government regulations. The construction started in 2017. |
| Reinforcement of Seismic Resistance Ability for Facility Systems | Enhancing anti-seismic ability of hardware facilities, such as wafer storage tanks, clean room ceilings, walls, tanks and chemical lorry. |
| Cooperation with National Center for Research on Earthquake Engineering (NCREE) on Shaking Table Tests | Site inspections and seismic resistance verification:
|
| Renewal of Earthquake Management Regulations | Review and renew four internal regulations on earthquake protection and define the responsibilities. Seismic operating procedures were established and all items were verified with drill practices. The improvement approaches and post-earthquake response procedures were included into official management regulations of the company. The assessment was performed based on the OHSAS 18001 system. |
| Holding Earthquake Protection Workshops | The 180 earthquake protection guards were fully trained with seismic knowledge and practices to ensure their ability to perform their duties. A cross-Fabs audit will be carried out in 2017 to examine the implementation of seismic resistance plans. |
The guiding principles of TSMC earthquake management policy are "Zero casualty, short operation recovery time and least impact on customers". Cross-Fabs post-earthquake emergency response procedures and business continuity plans were established according to these guiding principles. Constantly and systematically, TSMC minimizes damage caused by earthquakes and enhances anti-seismic ability.