Overview

Since semiconductor fabs use diverse and complex gases as well as chemicals, and the clean room is a large enclosed space, the required firefighting and disaster rescue techniques differ from conventional methods and the risks involved are also different. UMC established a high-tech fire brigade in April 1999, which operates under the Risk Management and Environmental Safety Division, becoming the only company in Taiwan’s electronics industry with such a fire brigade team.

UMC’s fire brigade helps schools in remote areas promote Risk Reduction education, strengthening the children’s knowledge of disaster prevention and rescue. Since 2017, UMC has organized Risk Reduction education programs for remote schools. A total of five sessions were conducted, with a total of 188 students participating in the programs. The students who have participated in the programs all agreed that the contents were quite useful and unique. Therefore, UMC continues to conduct classes about semiconductor environment and hazard rescue during its program every year, so that rural children can gain more information and experience.

The series of programs were implemented jointly by UMC professional firefighters as well as occupational safety and environmental protection personnel. Through competitions and fun activities, students learned the right knowledge and concepts about working environment, disaster prevention and rescue within the semiconductor industry. Furthermore, they also learned about UMC's exclusive chemical firefighting vehicle and equipment, and experienced firefighting and rescue operations conducted by the firefighters. The following briefly describes the results of each fire-fighting program:

Program 1： Firefighters’ equipment
This course teaches students about various high-tech disaster rescue equipment. Through on-site teaching and operation, students learned the functions and operations of various equipment.

Program 2：Little firefighters
A fire-fighting jacket can withstand high temperatures because it is made from low-thermal conducting materials that can slow down heat conduction. However, the disadvantage of the fire-fighting coat is that it has poor ventilation and is quite stuffy. Such shortcomings are not a problem in countries with cold weather, but it is quite disadvantageous in the humid and rainy subtropical regions. In addition, the fire scene is usually full of heat and moisture, and putting on the firefighting jacket itself is not an easy task. This Little Firefighter Program allows students to experience the hard work of firefighters.

Program 3：Putting out fires
Aerosol machines have a good cooling effect because the sprayed mist droplets have a small diameter, which increases the surface area of the same volume of water. This enhances the heat exchange efficiency and blocks the transfer of heat radiation. Furthermore, the water mist quickly vaporizes in fire, expanding its volume rapidly to reduce the oxygen concentration in the air. This creates a smothering effect to extinguish fires. The aerosol fire extinguishing system has various uses, such as extinguishing, suppressing, and controlling fires, controlling temperature, reducing dust, and absorbing chemical mist. It is suitable for application in high-tech factories. This program allows students to operate and experience the aerosol machine in putting out fires.

Operating the aerosol machine

Program 4： Maze escape
Through the smoke simulation room, students can experience what it is like when a fire occurs, making the educational experience also fun. This program also strengthens the knowledge of fire and disaster prevention for children. With the carefully designed fire-fighting related questions and answers as well as simulations of the fire scene, students wore eye masks and crawled through the room to learn how to control the coordination and balance of their hands and feet.

Reutilizing waste boxes	Using interesting rescue missions to increase students’ involvement
Designing interactive questions and answers to provide the correct knowledge in fire escape	Using sound effects to create tension
Wearing masks over the eyes to simulate the fire scene

Program 5： Post activity survey
The questionnaires after the programs helped the designers to understand whether students acquired the educational goals and knowledge of the curriculum planned for the program. The instructor also encouraged students to make practical suggestions to help improve their educational goals. By adding questions from different programs, designers can learn more about how the information are taught in the programs and improve them if required.

Learning sheet - Favorite program analysis

UMC has always attached great importance to fire safety; this valuable opportunity allows UMC to play to its strengths in environmental education, contributing to fundamental fire protection education and bringing knowledge and joy to students.

The students were very pleased to have the opportunity to participate in this series of programs, experiencing various disaster prevention and evacuation skills, and learning the essentials of fire prevention and escape as well as gaining knowledge in fire and electricity safety. This series of programs instills basic knowledge of fire prevention, disaster prevention, evacuation, and escape into the minds of elementary school students. It is hoped that students will bring the knowledge of fire prevention back to their families and into society, improving the fire prevention and disaster rescue skills of every citizen.