Enterprise Risk Management

UMC fully recognizes the impact and influence of natural and man-made disasters on production and operation. Hence, the company has consistently adopted an active attitude toward preventive disaster risk management, and seeks to achieve the highest standard of semiconductor industrial safety through rigorous risk engineering controls and implementation of safety regulations and standards.

If the Taipower generators break down and the renewable energy supplies are unstable during peak consumption periods in Taiwan, it may cause power trip or voltage dip risk due to insufficient backup capacity. Consequently, UMC installed diesel oil generators and enhance UPS install percentage to enhance operational resilience in Fabs, and established safety level management mechanism of diesel oil for generators and replaced existing lead-acid UPS batteries with lithium-iron UPS batteries gradually to enhance system stability.

In the face of climate change with extreme weather being the norm, a more severe water shortage conditions may occur on the future, UMC deployment actions based on different water restriction stages, including formulating various water-saving measures and production scheduling adjustments. In addition, on -site wastewater reuse system, U water, was established, introduce reclaimed water and desalinated seawater, and contracting water tankers and private water, UMC has prepared the water resources needed to maintain stable production in the event of increased water rationing levels. In the future, various options such as the use of reclaimed water and recycled water usage will be increased to reduce water risks. For detailed information, please refer to chapter 1-2-5 Managing Climate Risks and Opportunities in UMC Sustainability Report.

UMC incorporated the international standards of the US Factory Mutual Insurance Company (FM), Underwriters Laboratories Inc. (UL), the US National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), the Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (SEMI), and other international standards into its building construction, equipment, engineering controls and risk assessment, and formulated relevant company regulations for supplementary requirements. Besides, UMC is the only semiconductor company in the industry equipped with a professional fire brigade. In addition to being equipped with government-grade fire trucks and rescue equipment, UMC volunteer firemen regularly receive simulated firefighting training from professionals off-sites, which enhances their practical disaster relief capabilities.

UMC production sites in Taiwan and Japan are located in pacific seismic zone, where the impact caused by earthquake cannot be overlooked. At the beginning of the construction stage of UMC fabs, earthquake-resistant requirements are integrated into the design concept of buildings, facilities, pipelines and production equipment.
UMC continues to introduce new anti-seismic techniques such as seismic isolation platforms for production equipment and Earthquake Early Warning System (EEWS). In addition, for those fabs built before year 2000, structural experts are continuously hired to conduct seismic reinforcement improvements in accordance with laws and earthquake experience, in order to further enhance personnel safety and reduce the risk of damage to precious fab equipment in earthquakes.
There were 2 massive earthquakes hit Taiwan in recent yeas, one is magnitude 6.6 Meinong earthquake on 6 February 2016 registered as a 6.0 intensity at UMC’s Fab 12A in the Tainan Science Park, the other one is magnitude 7.2 Hualien earthquake on 3 April 2024 registered as 5.0 intensity at UMC’s 8 inch Fabs in Hsinchu Science Park. The damage caused in the earthquake mentioned above, however, were less than nearby companies, proving the effectiveness of the anti-seismic design at UMC.

The Environmental Health and Safety Standard for semiconductor manufacturing equipment (SEMI-S2), NFPA, and FM7-7 are the primary international standards adopted by UMC. When adopting the Equipment ESH Purchasing Specifications into its procurement procedures, equipment must conform to review standards before being brought into the fab and conform to inspection after installation for effective equipment safety control.

UMC implemented the [Taiwan Fabs Flood Risk Simulation project] as early as 2014. Compared with the Hsinchu fabs located in the hilly land, Tainan Fabs are in the potential flood risk area due to lower terrain. Therefore, referring to 500yrs-return period flood level to install flood gates at the specific entrances/ exist at first floor, and establish a water level warning mechanism to avoid the business interruption by the flooding of important production facilities. In addition, UMC also specified flood control standards for the newly built factory. Ultimately, the Fab12A_P5/P6 plant base reaches 2 meters higher than the perimeter road to eliminate flooding risks.