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New edition of procedural handbook includes first major updates in more than a decade.
A new edition of the IFAI Procedural Handbook for the Safe Installation and Maintenance of Tents and Fabric Structures includes major revisions to reflect industry trends and a reorganization that makes the handbook a user-friendly training tool.
This is the first significant update to the handbook by the Tent Rental Division (TRD) of IFAI since 2005. Editions since that time have included minor changes, but the new seventh edition incorporates current best practices in safety, changes in codes and information about the TRD ballasting and staking studies. The handbook is available to TRD members only.
“Tent design and tent styles have changed enough that it’s time to update the book to reflect what is being sold and used out in today’s marketplace,” says TRD Education Committee member Michael Tharpe of Rainier Industries.
The revised handbook includes:
- a review of safety practices for installers at a job site, covering required PPE and practices that need to be followed day in and day out by every crew member
- step-by-step instructions for conducting a site survey
- detailed instructions on the safe installation of a variety of tent styles
The handbook is a tool offered by TRD to its members since 1996 to educate novice and experienced tent renters on installation theory, with an emphasis on safety. The handbook may be used as a basic guide for tent installation. From its outset, the goal of the publication has been to clarify specific tenting theories, verifying as well as dispelling common tenting myths.
In addition to Tharpe, TRD Education Committee members who contributed to the revisions are Alex Kouzmanoff of Aztec Tents, Scott Woodruff of Tent Ox, Steve Belliveau of Anchor Industries Inc., Jim Reyen of Eureka! and Brian Richardson of L & A Tent Rentals.
The Education Committee devoted more than nine months to revising the document. In conjunction with the handbook, the committee is also revising the training modules of the Training for the Tent Professional program.
Three module revisions were completed for IFAI Tent Expo 2017, held in January in Orlando, Fla., where 125 registered for
the training.
“I’m pleased with the results of the revisions,” Tharpe says. “The handbook has become a user-friendly way for tent renters to go through the training process with their installers.”