Canadian Public Works Association (CPWA)

level, public works professionals are responsible for many aspects of emergency planning and disaster response, including assessing damage to buildings and infrastructure; clearing and disposing of debris; removing snow in blizzard conditions ahead of police and fire services; securing critical facilities and restoring lifeline services; managing traffic and coordinating municipal vehicles, equipment and manpower; and ensuring a safe public water supply. In 2017, APWA announced the creation of a national “Public Works First Responder” symbol for use throughout North America to identify public works personnel and acknowledge their role as first responders. Public works agencies are displaying the symbol to raise awareness among all citizens, government officials, and other first responders about the critical role public works plays in emergency management efforts. Public works is the combination of physical assets, management practices, policies, and personnel necessary for government to provide and sustain structures and services essential to the welfare and acceptable quality of life for its citizens. Public works services may not be readily identified on a city organizational chart, or delivered in the same way, or to the same level, from one community to the next. But whether or not we ‘see’ and recognize the city engineers, property superintendents, utility managers, park directors, waste collection crews, snow plow drivers and others that encompass public works, our way of life would be radically altered without them. This is why each year since 1960, APWA has sponsored National Public Works Week during the third week in May. Across North America, APWA’s more than 30,000 members in the U.S. and Canada use this week to energize and educate the public on the importance of public works to their daily lives.