This does not involve workers wearing filter masks spraying CdTe like paint! The application of the Cadmium Telluride to the glass has to be done in a high vacuum, by vapor deposition. The $2/Watt breakthrough is because they have come up with a continuous process that is all performed by machinery inside the high vacuum part of the assembly line. That area has to be ultraclean, so human entry necessitates a lot of expensive downtime to flush out the dead skin flakes, hairs, dust, etc. At the point in the process where human workers have any contact with the solar panels, the CdTe will be sealed between laminated glass layers.

I'm not saying a panel would never get broken, but I bet working in this factory will be much less dangerous than working in an integrated circuit fabrication facility, and these panels will be a lot less dangerous than common fluorescent light tubes.

One interesting thing about CdTe not mentioned much: It may be a lot cheaper than silicon, but it is also less efficient. For most homeowners, having a larger array of panels on the roof will not matter but for some applications silicon and other even more efficient exotic materials will still be desirable because of size limitations.