Women in high places: meet two women who thrive in unlikely jobs
Meet two women working in very high places: chimney sweep Iveta Jelínková and crane operator Ivana Neufussová. For both of these women, their work is not just a job but a true labour of love. Find out more in our last episode on Czech female pioneers and their modern successors.
Iveta Jelínková: the chimney sweep who took over the family business
Chimney sweep Iveta Jelínková comes from a long line of sweepers. Her father, Josef Jelínek, founded a chimney sweep company in Slaný in the early 90s. When he retired, Iveta decided to take over the family business and continue the tradition. Her sister, Markéta, also works as a chimney sweep. Initially working in an office, Iveta eventually swapped her desk for black overalls, gloves, and a brush.
“I find it hard to learn from books; I learn best by doing something,” Iveta explains. “So, my dad started taking me along on chimney sweeps. I really got into it, and eventually, I became a chimney sweep myself. I started going with my dad regularly to clean chimneys, and at one point, I was given office duty as punishment!”
Iveta passed her chimney sweep exam in 2022, and as she often says, she now only wears white clothes on holidays. Today, she serves clients not just in Slaný, but throughout the entire Kladno district, many of them regular customers she inherited from her father.
On a visit to a local restaurant, Iveta arrives to inspect the chimney after heavy use. She carefully vacuums the soot to avoid making a mess before using a chimney mirror and flashlight to make sure the chimney isn't clogged.
“Each chimney has its own diameter, so my brushes range from 140 millimeters to 350 millimeters for larger chimneys,” she explains. “I don’t clean standalone chimneys, but I occasionally climb to the tops of high-rise buildings like silos, which have chimneys reaching up to 30 meters in height.”
Iveta is not afraid of heights and enjoys the views from rooftops.
“You can’t think too much about it, or you’d have to call the fire brigade with a platform,” she laughs. “It’s better not to think about it and not to look down.”
According to a Czech superstition, touching a chimney sweep or touching one’s own button when seeing a sweep, brings good fortune. Iveta jokes that it’s becoming more difficult for people to follow the tradition:
“The still sometimes grab at buttons, but with today’s sweatpants fashion, it’s a problem! I guess that's why people aren’t as happy anymore—because people only wear sweat suits.”
Ivana Neufussová: crane operator in Prague’s waste plant
Much like Iveta, crane operator Ivana Neufussová is also accustomed to working at great heights. She operates a crane at the Waste Incineration Plant in Prague’s Malešice district, the largest of its kind in the country.
Ivana has been in the profession for over 30 years. Alongside her daughter, who is following in her footsteps, Ivana works in a team that helps convert waste into energy and heat for households in Prague. Her workplace is a crane cabin situated 24 meters above the ground, filled with piles of waste. From there, she uses joysticks to control the giant grabbers that can move up to five tons of garbage at a time.
“The trucks arrive—whether they’re garbage trucks, dumpsters, or private cars—they unload their waste, and we scoop it up,” Ivana explains. “We mix it all together and put it in the hoppers to ensure it burns efficiently.”
“We produce energy and heat from waste for 20,000 households in Prague,” she adds. “Mondays are the busiest days, when we can handle up to 1,800 tonnes of waste. But nowadays, we manage around 1,400 to 1,500 tonnes a day—it’s quite something.”
Ivana's passion for working on a crane began at the age of 12, when she climbed a tower crane and decided she wanted to pursue the profession.
“Back then, I had to pass psychological tests and both practical and written exams. My first job was at Poldi Kladno, followed by the Central Bohemian scrap yard in Kralupy nad Vltavou, Kovošrot, and finally the Incineration plant here in Malešice,” she recalls.
Over the years, Ivana has operated many types of cranes, including outdoor ones exposed to the elements.
“The trolleys would freeze, so we had to warm them up and get them moving slowly. Wind was also a challenge. It would push you from one side to the other, depending on where it was coming from, so we had to adjust accordingly.”
She recalls how, without heating underfoot, it would get very cold, and with glass windows everywhere, visibility was limited, meaning they had to put heaters in the cabin.
At her current job, however, working conditions are more comfortable, including a heated cabin equipped with computers.
“It’s definitely better in terms of amenities,” she says. “There’s an elevator, so I don’t have to climb a ladder or outdoor stairs anymore. And we have everything we need—kitchen, toilets."
In the outdoor cranes, there were no such luxuries.
“It was quite a challenge in the outdoor crane. I learned to endure because there was no other choice—there were no toilets available there.”
Crane operation is still a predominantly male profession, and Ivana admits that when she first started, she encountered resistance because of her gender. However, her skills have always spoken for themselves.
“Of course, you do come across those macho arguments —the belief that a woman can’t do this job. But I think a few women have proved otherwise. And now, people often mention that women are more sensitive and have a better feel for the job.”
Women in high places: breaking into male-dominated jobs
Women had been working in traditionally 'male' occupations since the First Republic, though this was still quite rare. It was only after the communist takeover in 1948, influenced by developments in the Soviet Union and the post-World War II shortage of male labor, that women began to enter these fields in larger numbers.
However, gender equality was more a tool of communist propaganda than a genuine emancipatory effort. In magazines, women were portrayed as tractor drivers, miners, combine harvesters, bricklayers, and even crane operators.
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Czech female pioneers and their modern successors
Discover the inspiring stories of women who have made it in 'traditionally male' professions, and learn about the female pioneers who first paved the way.
