Scanning electron microscope (SEM) station is one of the major quality control tasks in wafer manufacturing process. During the process of examining defects on a screen for a certain period of time, SEM inspectors frequently complain about visual fatigue problems. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the effect of wafer‐coating condition (noncoating treatment and gold‐coating treatment) and liquid crystal display (LCD) monitor size (14‐inch and 19‐inch monitor) from the aspects of objective visual fatigue measures (NPA and CFF), subjective eye fatigue rating, and inspection performance. Twelve SEM inspectors participated in this experiment. The results indicated that the treatment of gold‐coating wafer showed significant difference on reducing objective visual fatigue in NPA and CFF change. Using a 19‐inch LCD monitor also demonstrated the effect on reducing eye fatigue as well as improving inspection performance. The improvement of using a gold‐coating treatment wafer and a 19‐inch LCD monitor to reduce SEM inspectors' visual fatigue and to increase inspection performance is thus recommended. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.