This section applies to all window cleaning activities performed on the inside or outside of a building in which the window cleaner is working from a level that is located more than four feet above grade or lower level under the scope of chapter 296-878 WAC, Safety standards for window cleaning.

(1) The employer must ensure employees working on a roof or other elevated working surface four feet or more above a lower level are protected in accordance with WAC 296-880-200.

(2) The employer must ensure all workers suspended from a boatswain's chair or rope descent system use an independent fall arrest system where the fall arrest anchorage is separate from the suspension system anchorage.

(3) The employer must ensure workers assemble and wear their personal fall arrest equipment before they approach the point of suspension.

(4) The employer must ensure workers are connected at all times to the fall arrest system while they are suspended.

(5) The employer must prohibit use of the following equipment for window-cleaning operations:

(a) Portable sills;

(b) Window jacks;

(c) Capstan devices to suspend workers; and

(d) Suspension or fall-arrest ropes made entirely of polypropylene that do not have a minimum breaking strength of five thousand pounds (22.2 kN).

Additional requirements for window cleaning can be found in chapter 296-878 WAC, Safety standards for window cleaning.