At one of the largest semiconductor manufacturers in the world, the safety teams play an essential role in the success of their capital projects and, in turn, the success of the organization. Despite a near 6x increase in capital projects volume, Highwire allowed one global semiconductor company to decrease incident rates and save millions in costs while delivering high-quality, complex capital projects on-time and on-budget.
The Semiconductor Manufacturer faced three business problems:
Time-consuming contractor selection
The manufacturer’s construction team was relying on their general contractors to prequalify subcontractors and suppliers, but inconsistencies in the GCs’ criteria often did not meet the owner’s standards for safety.
More work hours, more risks
Demand for the company’s products was projected to increase significantly over a 20-year horizon, which meant new fab construction was ramping up. As work hours increased, there was an uptick in recordable incidents. Sites with more incidents had a lack of engagement between the owner’s leadership and contractors.
A major incident
A facilities maintenance worker suffered a tragic incident. In addition to a settlement of over $10 million, the the incident damaged the company’s reputation.
“Highwire has helped us be more engaged with our contractors. We can see what’s going on on our sites day to day and take action“
— EHS Manager, Semiconductor Manufacturer
The Highwire Solution
Efficient, consistent assessments
The manufacturer used Highwire to prequalify subcontractors, ensuring compliance with set requirements. This gave full visibility into the risks and compliance of every contractor on-site.
More engagement with contractors
By adding inspections and incident reports, the manufacturer identified risks early, took corrective action, and worked with contractors to improve safety, fostering a safety-first culture.
Company-wide adoption
The manufacturer required all contractors and subcontractors to use Highwire for construction and maintenance. Since then, there have been no serious incidents or fatalities.
“With Highwire, all my data is on one platform. I can see what risks I’m taking with all our contractors on every project, from prequal through closeout.“
— Construction EHS Manager, Semiconductor Manufacturer
Results
Streamlined Contractor Risk Assessment Process
Highwire's Safety tool allowed the semiconductor manufacturer to efficiently assess contractor risks, eliminating inconsistencies in prequalification processes and enabling real-time insights into subcontractor safety performance.
Engagement and Communication Across Projects
By implementing Highwire's Tracker and Inspect tools, the company could monitor safety violations and incidents across all sites, facilitating better communication and corrective actions across teams.
Stronger Safety Culture from the Top Down
Highwire’s platform enabled leadership to engage more directly in safety management, promoting a culture where safety was prioritized, leading to a 50% reduction in recordables.
- Reduced capital project TRIR by
- 50%
- Incident costs avoided
- $14 million
- With insurance savings across more than $10B worth of projects, totaling
- $50 million