A system is disclosed for detecting the presence of a broken or mis-positioned wafer during bench processing of the wafers. In one embodiment, a charge-coupled device (CCD) is provided above a wet bench bath, and is positioned to record an image of the bath and its contents. The CCD is connected to processing software that compares the image with a stored image of the bath. Based on the image comparison, the system can provide either a “go” indication, where the images are deemed substantially the same, or an “error” indication, where the images are deemed substantially different thus indicating the presence of broken wafer pieces in the bath. In a second embodiment, the CCD may be positioned to record an image of a plurality of wafers carried on a cassette-less wafer lifter held above the bath. Again, the CCD may be connected to processing software that compares the image with a stored image of the plurality of wafers on the lifter. Based on the image comparison, the system can provide a “go” indication if the images are substantially the same, or an “error” indication if the images are substantially different—indicating the presence of a broken or mis-positioned wafer on the wafer lifter. A method of using the system is also disclosed.