MD & Co-Founder
Martin is the Managing Director for Jessen Lifts and co-founder of the organisation.
Martin has a Diploma in International Marketing from the Export Academy, Aarhus, Denmark and MAP, Management Advancement Program from WITS, (Witwatersrand Business School), Johannesburg, as well as a MBA from GIBS (Gordon’s Institute of Business Science), Johannesburg.
Martin moved to South Africa from Denmark in 1995 and worked for several years for the Danish based engineering components conglomerate Danfoss. Martin was a Director for the Automobile Association for 7 years during which time many new businesses were started and several existing core businesses further developed under his leadership.
Martin has a proven track record of leading and managing complex businesses, and Jessen Pty Ltd has for the last 14 years experienced significant annual growth coupled with a large growing client base of satisfied clients. Jessen Pty Ltd has also grown substantially, leveraging a large compliment of technical skills all in-house within the Company. We look forward to continue to being of service.
Director & Shareholder
Ronel is a Director and Shareholder in Jessen Lifts. Ronel oversees all financial processes and technical issues for Jessen’s patient handling and bathroom safety divisions.
Ronel is a representative on a technical committee for the South African Bureau of Standards (SABS), consulting on Universal Access (UA) and Universal Design (UD) within the built environment. Ronel also represented South Africa on one of the International Organisation of Standards (ISO) Committees’ Joint Technical Advisory Group’s for the revision of ISO/IEC Guide 71, Guidelines for standards developers addressing Universal Access and Universal Design in the built environment, which were published.
Ronel is a ceiling hoist and rail system expert; an advocate and scholar of international best practice and benchmarking in safe patient handling (SPH) – including the “no lift / partial lift” policy. The no lift policy governs care-givers from lifting and transferring care-receivers in ways that may not threaten their dignity, potentially cause harm – such as falls – and thus threaten their well-being. Ronel’s career highlights and passion include:
- Providing access and mobility for all people, including with disabilities and the elderly by means of our lift/elevator/hoist product offerings;
- training nurses and therapist on safe patient handling principles, no-lifting/partial lifting policy;
- training on using body mechanics to protect our backs against potential musculoskeletal injury during moving / transferring people with mobility impairments;
- bathroom design and specialised bathroom safety items for people with mobility impairments ensuring safe transferring whilst taking care of their hygiene.
Ronel successfully completed her Master Degree in Philosophy in Disability Studies at the University of Cape Town (UCT). Ronel’s thesis focussed on the transfer-related experiences of people with spinal cord injury (PWSCI) living in low socio-economic, independent living communities (ILC) in Johannesburg as seen in the context of relationships of personal assistance. A qualitative study was conducted, and argued that an Ethics of Care (EoC) framework was a useful theoretical approach adopted in exploring the lived experiences of PWSCI in the interest of their taking back agency within relationships of personal assistance; being free of any assumptions and perceptions about impairment and their ability. An EoC approach aims to foster inclusion, respect and dignity, and systems of influence and power, influencing the experiences and personal perceptions of PWSCI living in low socio-economic ILC homes.