(1) The employer's employee alarm system must provide warning for necessary emergency action called for in the emergency action plan, or safe escape of employees from the workplace.

(2) The employer must ensure that all employees can see or hear their employee alarm above normal noise or light levels in the workplace. The employer may use tactile devices to alert employees who can not see or hear the alarm.

(3) The employer must ensure that their employee alarm is recognizable as an evacuation signal or signal to perform actions designated under the emergency action plan.

(4) The employer must explain to each employee how to report emergencies. For example: They may use manual pull box alarms, public address systems, radio or telephones. The employer must post emergency telephone numbers near telephones, or employee notice boards when telephones serve as a means of reporting emergencies. When the employer's communication system also serves as the employee alarm system, the employer must ensure that all emergency messages have priority over all nonemergency messages.

(5) The employer must establish procedures for sounding emergency alarms in the workplace. If the employer has ten or fewer employees in a workplace, direct voice communication is an acceptable procedure for sounding the alarm if all employees can hear it. In this case, the employer does not need a back-up system.