The Panama Canal serves 13,000 ships a year

Every day, thousands of workers efficiently operate, maintain and manage Panama Canalwhich serves an average of 13,000 vessels per year.

The waterway provide services on 180 maritime routes, connecting 170 countries with destinations in around 1,920 ports. In an operation of this scope, several risk factors are taken into account.

In celebration World Day of Safety and Health at Work, Kanal Occupational safety policies to prevent incidents or accidents stand out as fundamental elements of its operation.

The Panama Canal Authority (ACP) indicates that the recent test is a timely and expected response to the covid-19 pandemic, which was aimed at protecting personnel as well as crews of ships that continuously passed through the Channel.

He points out that thanks to the continuous program of health and safety protection at work Channel You can predict incidents and promptly deal with occupational diseases, as well as material damages and their consequences.

He Panama Canal It has multiple risk identification and control guides for different areas of work, as well as a robust training, supervision and inspection plan to keep you aware of risks and reinforce safe work practices.

As part of its commitment to the workforce, it recently Panama Canal launched a project to digitize safety and industrial hygiene inspections. This project rationalized and simplified information management by digitizing various processes that were previously done manually.

Evaluation of the impact of projects on health and health at the stage of their development worker safetyit is positioned as the most effective instrument when it comes to prevention.

Staff of each area Channel, from locks, workshops, as well as rolling or floating equipment, follows basic safety rules by which they can coordinate their joint efforts to prevent accidents. In this way, the workforce is protected and enables safe and profitable business in the service of world trade for the benefit of the country.

He Panama Canal also implements a robust multi-year maintenance program for all of its structures.

Maintenance work is distributed through a system that allows determining the tasks, time and responsible for each of them. In addition, when such maintenance is on the locks, it is reported with waiting for customers.

During the fiscal year 2022 Channel It had a human team of 606 employees and an executed budget of $58.9 million, earmarked for tasks:

–Maintenance locomotive major

-Renovation of submerged paths and equipment

–Maintenance defense systems

– Doors and valves

– rails and electrical systems

Pnate statement that it is Panama Canal has a responsibility towards the country to ensure the availability of the quantity and quality of water for its work and for human consumption. This is possible thanks to the maintenance work and industrial safety policies we implement.

This commitment is materialized through creation Center for Innovation, Research and Hydroecological Technologies (CITEC)an initiative promoted by the Panama Canal, with the support of the Technological University of Panama (UTP), as part of an effort to increase the protection of water resources.

As part of the responsible management of water resources, Panama Canal conducts annual operational tests of the 14 gates of the Gatún spillway, in Colón, ensuring that they are available for flood control when the reservoir reaches its critical levels in the last quarters of the year.