Every day, thousands of workers efficiently operate, maintain, and manage the Panama Canal, which serves an average of 13,000 ships a year.

The task of these Panamanian men and women is to make it possible for the waterway to serve 180 shipping lanes, connecting 170 countries with destinations to some 1,920 ports. In an operation of this magnitude, multiple risk factors are taken into consideration.

That is why to commemorate World Day for Safety and Health at Work, the Canal highlights as fundamental elements of its operation, occupational safety policies to prevent incidents or accidents.

A recent testimony of this is the timely and early response to the COVID-19 pandemic, which focused on the protection of personnel, as well as the crews of the vessels that transited the Canal uninterruptedly.

Thanks to an ongoing occupational health and safety program, the Canal can anticipate incidents and address occupational illnesses and property damage and their consequences in a timely manner.

Comprehensive Safety

The Panama Canal has multiple guidelines for the identification and control of risks for the various work areas, in addition to a robust training, supervision and inspection plan to be aware of risks and reinforce safe work practices.

As part of its commitment to the workforce, the Panama Canal recently undertook a project to digitize industrial health and safety inspections. This project has streamlined and simplified the handling of information by digitizing several processes that were previously done manually.

The evaluation of the impact of projects in their design stages on the health and safety of workers is the most effective tool for prevention.

The personnel of each area of the Canal-from locks, workshops, as well as rolling or floating equipment-follow basic safety rules through which they can coordinate their common efforts towards accident prevention. In this way, the workforce is protected and allows for a safe and profitable operation at the service of world trade for the benefit of the country.

Maintenance, the Key

The Panama Canal also executes a robust multi-year maintenance program for all its structures.

The maintenance works are programmed through a system that allows establishing the tasks, times and people in charge of each one of them. In addition, when such maintenance is on the locks, customers are informed in advance.

During fiscal year 2022, the Canal had a human team of 606 employees and an executed budget of B/.58.9 million, destined to tasks of:

- Major maintenance of locomotives.

- Reconditioning of tracks and submerged equipment.

- Maintenance of fender systems.

- Gates and valves.

- Rails and electrical systems.

Commitment to the Country

The Panama Canal has a responsibility to the country to ensure the availability in volume and quality of water for its operation and for human consumption. This is possible thanks to the maintenance work and industrial safety policies that are implemented.

This commitment has materialized through the creation of the Centro de Innovación, Investigación y Tecnología Hidroambiental (CITEC), an initiative promoted by the Panama Canal, with the support of the Universidad Tecnológica de Panamá (UTP), as part of the efforts to increase the protection of water resources.

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