Winter maintenance is more than work plans, budgets, disasters, and recovery operations – such activities also impact the families of the workers involved in those critical operations.
[Above image by AASHTO]
That’s why Episode 139 of the “Winter Ops Podcast,” entitled “Don’t Give Your Spouse the Leftovers,” focuses on the huge role families play in the careers of public works professionals – especially as that work often demands family sacrifice during times of crisis. Lots of times, the two worlds of work and family overlap and sometimes collide.
That’s the issue Mike Duffy, assistant public works director at the City of Cedar Rapids in Iowa, and his wife Janis Duffy, who works for the State of Iowa’s Foster Care and Adoption Unit, address in this podcast episode.
During Duffy’s 16-year career with Cedar Rapids and the 10 years he spent before that working in county maintenance, he and his wife raised children and tackled a variety of family crises – all while surviving a variety of community disasters. They share their story – and their many challenges, triumphs, and insights – in this Winter Ops episode.
This episode also highlights specific resources available to transportation workers struggling with work-life balance issues, such as Engineer Your Success with Dr. James Bryant. Bryant worked in maintenance and preservation, as well as research and education areas, as a senior program manager withing the Technical Activities Division of the Transportation Research Board for 15 years.
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