Chips · Oct 21, 2026, 12:06
Three Workers Die at TSMC's 2nm Fab 22 Site as Phase 4 Steel Work Halts
A suspected broken bolt on a steel connection plate sent four contract workers falling at TSMC's Kaohsiung 2nm complex. Steel hoisting on Phase 4 has stopped while labor inspectors investigate.
Steel hoisting on Fab 22 Phase 4 has been halted.
Illustration (AI-generated)
Kaohsiung, Oct. 21 — Three contract workers died and a fourth is in intensive care after a fall at the construction site of TSMC's 2nm Fab 22 in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, according to Taiwan's Central News Agency as reported by Tom's Hardware. Steel hoisting on the project has stopped, and the Southern Taiwan Science Park (STSP) Bureau has sent labor inspectors.
The STSP Bureau suspects a bolt on a third-floor steel connection plate broke while the crew was hoisting and installing structural steel, sending the men and steel parts down together. Local police said the workers were welding a beam on an upper floor. All four worked for a contractor on Phase 4 of the complex, and TSMC said the area was within that contractor's scope of work.
The Technical Details
The accident happened on the construction side, not inside a producing fab. Fab 22, in Kaohsiung's Nanzi District, is one of the sites where TSMC began high-volume N2 (2nm) production in the fourth quarter of 2025. The complex has five planned phases, and TSMC puts total investment above NT$1.5 trillion, about $46 billion.
Phase 4 construction began in August 2025, according to Kaohsiung's deputy mayor, with operations expected in the fourth quarter of 2027. Ten emergency vehicles and 22 responders went to the site. TSMC said it stopped the related work on its own and is supervising the subcontractor's follow-up with the authorities.
