Stamford Tent & Event Services, Stamford, Conn., handles all types of tent setups, from the special occasion in someone’s backyard to high-end installations atop buildings. The jobs might be different, but what stays the same is that every tenting request triggers rigorous safety protocols.
The process, says Brian Rieke, vice president, operations, covers all aspects of the job, everything from the initial review to inspection of the installation at the job site.
For jobs that require installation of a tent on the roof of a building, there are additional steps, from creating a consulting agreement to determine the feasibility of the job to contracting an engineer “who will take the manufacturer’s engineering for ground level and determine what additional exposure there is for the increase of elevation. Once we get that taken care of, we will look at what our anchoring methods are. We will work with the building contractor and tie directly into the steel or concrete of the roof with an anchor the engineer designs for us. In other cases, where that isn’t feasible, we put in place a ballast plan. That could be a variety of different methods — all unique to each installation,” Rieke says.
If the job requires building an elevated platform on which to put the tent, Rieke says there are even more safety steps. “We shoot the elevation with a transit to determine how high the floor is. We will have drawings created of the construction methodology of the floor. Once the crew has completed the build of it, we have an engineer do an inspection and write a letter stating that it meets uniform building codes, etc. We keep that on file and submit it to the local building officials. Then, independent of internal inspections, we employ an outside engineer to do the inspection again,” he says.
But it’s not just the safety around the job that is paramount. It also involves extensive training of all staff members, including having crew chiefs be OSHA-30-certified, and making sure all staff wear the appropriate personal protective equipment when they are on the site.
Safety protocols also include the resources of ARA Insurance agent Robert O’Connor, CPU, senior vice president, Assured Partners, Hartford, Conn.
“He is available whenever we need. He works with us to improve and adjust as needed. It’s more than the coverage offered. It is the expertise that comes with it. It is a team effort. He and his team investigate our sites, review things and offer suggestions,” Rieke says.
Why all the safety protocols? “We want to be able to sleep at night. If we were to fail, someone would be hurt and that would be the kiss of death for any company in our industry. We have been around for 60 years. We don’t want to have any issues nor do we want that on our conscience,” Rieke says.