(1) You must provide an emergency action plan in accordance with WAC 296-24-567 for each area within a workplace that is protected by a total flooding system which provides agent concentrations exceeding the maximum safe levels.

(2) Systems installed in areas where employees cannot enter during or after the system's operation are exempt from the requirements of this section.

(3) On all total flooding systems the employer must provide a predischarge employee alarm which will give employees time to safely exit from the discharge area prior to system discharge.

(a) Your predischarge employee alarm systems must:

(i) Provide enough warning to allow employees to safely escape from the workplace or the immediate work area or both;

(ii) Be capable of being perceived above ambient noise or light levels by all employees in the affected portions of the workplace before system discharge;

(iii) Be distinctive and recognizable as a signal to evacuate the work area;

(iv) Be kept in operating condition except when undergoing repairs or maintenance.

(b) You must explain to each employee how to report emergencies in your workplace. Methods of reporting emergencies include manual pull box alarms, public address systems, radio, or telephones. Post emergency telephone numbers near telephones, or employee notice boards, or other conspicuous locations if you use telephones to report emergencies.

(c) If you use a communication system that also serves as an employee alarm system, all emergency messages must have priority over all nonemergency messages.

(4) You must provide automatic actuation of total flooding systems by means of an approved fire detection device installed and interconnected with a predischarge employee alarm system to give employees time to safely exit from the discharge area prior to system discharge.