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Intel Businesses

Intel Accused by Workers of Prioritizing Chip Output Over Safety (bloomberg.com) 56

Posted by msmash from the bring-me-the-money dept.
Intel compromised worker safety at some of its factories to maintain chip production in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, according to complaints filed with government agencies and employees at one of the sites. From a report: At a plant in Chandler, Arizona, the world's largest semiconductor maker did not isolate staff that worked closely with teammates who had tested positive and did not institute tests, people who work there said. Factory managers also dismissed concerns that social-distancing guidelines were not being followed properly, according to the people, who asked not to be identified because they fear sanction by their employer. Many of these virus-related concerns were also raised in filings to state agencies that regulate workplace safety. The company said it responded with new policies to improve employee safety and kept factory output high because its products are essential.
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Intel Accused by Workers of Prioritizing Chip Output Over Safety More

Intel Accused by Workers of Prioritizing Chip Output Over Safety

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  • Now Intel CPUs are going to have actual viruses inside them.

    Joking aside, shame on you Intel. I know you're just following Rule of Acquisition #211, but that's still abusive.

    • Comment removed based on user account deletion

    • Not to mention further delays.

      I'm fine with shutting down meat plants, I can eat rice and beans for a while. But I can't take Ivy Bridge any more, so they'll just have to get out there and make me some 10nm goodness!

      • AMD is kicking Intel's ass in all categories in performance-per-dollar right now, sometimes even in performance-per-watt, I don't see why anyone would still want an Intel CPU in 2020.

        • Re: (Score:1)

          by guruevi ( 827432 )

          Not everyone is concerned about integer benchmarks, some of us have real work to do.

          • Oh so that's how it's going to be, eh? Integers are for kids and floats are for grown-ups?
            I'm waiting for you in Doom Eternal. I'm going to virtually kick your ass, guy! /sarcasm

      • News flash: Intel isn't bringing 10nm to the desktop until next year with Alder Lake-S. Covid-19 or no Covid-19.

  • They're treating frontline employees in the food sector as consumables.

  • There are so many offices now that aren't doing anything it is just go as you please. Nobody at my office wears masks right now (other than me). I get it. It's all dangerous. But come on. You can wear your own mask and you can protect yourself. This will be going to those ambulance chaser lawyers here shortly. Sad but it's not worth the cost anymore to employ some people it seems. Everyone is out for blood. We weren't this big of pussies 100 years ago. Everything is red tape everywhere you look now.

    • Wait, what? Wear a surgical mask, and you protect other people, not yourself.

      I mean, I have a real respirator and so-on for painting, but I'm not about to wear those to the office. Plus, they'd only protect me (filters the input, not the output) and not everyone else, so then they'd all be up in arms.

      • If it isn't N95, it isn't really that effective. I can go out with a stage prop mask and everyone will think I'm responsible, while in truth I'm doing nothing to help you or others.

        Ditto for people wearing scarves.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by spitzak ( 4019 )

      The mask is to protect others, not yourself.
      Anybody not wearing a mask is being a selfish boor, not a "unafraid MERICAN!!!!!"

  • accuracy.

  • These are high tech assembly facilities, aren't they? They have good ventilation, if not clean room-level ventilation. It's not like they are standing shoulder to shoulder in a slaughterhouse. While social distancing measures should be taken, it seems like a low risk environment for transmission of diseases.

    • Errr no. They are massive facilities with a small clean room in one area, only a few parts of the process require clean air.

  • Seems like they already had better PPE than anybody else.

  • Worried in a Fab? Safest place to be! (Score:3)

    by GregMmm ( 5115215 ) on Friday May 08, 2020 @06:45PM (#60038520)

    I hope they're not talking about Fabs. Intel Fabs are like huge clean rooms. They wear the fabled bunny suits and have to go through decom doors in and out. Really? Complaining? Tell you what, the 14.7% unemployment that was just announced, give any of them a call and for what they pay people in the Fabs (not bad at all) I'm sure they'll take your place.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by guruevi ( 827432 )

      Unless it's more than 55k, I'm not sure many people would want to take any jobs right now.

    • My thoughts exactly! Those are giant clean-rooms filled with workers in suits designed to keep anything from floating off them lest it land on a chip. I can't think of an environment less suited to contagion outside an actual biohazard lab.

  • The place where processors/PCHs/Memory/FPGAs are etched into silicon wafers?
    Intel calls that a Fab.
    The place where the chips in the waffer are tested/cut/tdeepbinned?
    For intel that's a fab too.
    The place where those chips are mounted on the substrate and tested again?
    Also a Fab.

    And guess what? The first type of fab is only on the USoA and in Israel, meanwhile, the other two are all over the place. At some point in time, Costa Rica had one. Most are in china and Malasya.

    Because, you see, silicon etching is hi

    • Chandler is one of Intel's biggest facilities. Fab42 is huge. I think it's one of their 10nm fabs. Yes, they do etching. The rest of what you're referring to are packaging and testing facilities. Not sure if Chandler has that capacity.

  • The fabs are open, but PPE's and thermometers are available at the front desks. All software engineers are working from home.. In Oregon, Intel is a ghost town. In the cafe the tables are over 12 fet apart, so people can walk between tables and still keep social distance. There is more social distance at Intel than shopping at Walmart or Costco. I know because I had to go in and reboot a computer.

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