Discipline is at the heart of Martin Bondin’s ethos, something that was drilled into him throughout his stellar military career covering sensitive roles including Head of Administration, Head of Safi Detention Services and aide-de-camp to two presidents.
When Martin swapped his officer’s uniform with a business suit to join CareMalta as the manager of the Cospicua home in 2014, he relied on his military training to help him face the myriad challenges of his new job. That experience still helps him “a lot” in his current role.
“I could only manage this job today because of the training I had received before. Thanks to that I can adapt to varied situations,” he says.
His role was created in 2019 and he immediately set about instilling a “cultural shift” in the way occupational health and safety was perceived. “I wanted to introduce health and safety by design.”
Legislations are not enough unless people’s mentality is changed. “We tend to take health and safety for granted. We need to put those laws into practice.”
His first task was to update occupational health and safety and fire risk assessment in all facilities. While employee safety is a top priority, the safety of CareMalta’s residents is also paramount to ensuring their quality of life. CareMalta has invested heavily in training and fire safety equipment by purchasing evacuation chairs and placing an evacuation sheet under each bed.
This cultural shift extends to the role of security guards who should be perceived as the first port of call in an emergency, especially at night when staff is not at full complement.