Security and Innovations
Electric scooters, cordless tools, laptops, gardening tools, electric bikes: lithium-ion batteries are becoming increasingly common in local authorities. Their thermal runaway can occur rapidly and is difficult to control. Here’s how to organise prevention measures on your premises.
Why are technical departments and town halls at risk?
Your technical departments house a concentration of portable equipment: brush cutters, chainsaws, drills and electric service vehicles. You store large numbers of these batteries and often recharge them overnight in workshops or garages with little supervision.
Your town hall is not spared either: computers, tablets, UPS units, service bicycles or confiscated scooters. Your premises, which are often old and open to the public, house archives and administrative documents that are highly flammable.
The risk lies in thermal runaway: a faulty cell overheats, releases flammable gases and contaminates neighbouring cells. Anoverload, an impact or a damaged battery is enough to trigger this in your workshops as well as in your offices.
What features should you consider: capacity, fire resistance and alarms?
First step: the inventory. Make a record of the batteries present, their type, their capacity in Wh and where they are charged. The higher the stored energy, the more severe the fire scenario and the more stringent the protection requirements.
Capacity: select the correct size of cabinet based on the number and power rating of the batteries to be stored. Check the maximum load per shelf and ensure the shelving is suitable for bulky battery packs.
Fire resistance: ensure the cabinet provides resistance to and containment of flames and sparks. Even if a fire starts inside the cabinet, it must prevent a widespread fire from breaking out on your premises!
Alarm: prioritise automatic and early smoke or heat detection, linked to an alert system that can be monitored outside opening hours. Our cabinets feature integrated detection and automatic fire suppression.
AllSafety’s lithium battery storage solutions are [➡️ RT362-compliant] and meet each of these requirements.
Securing council premises: advice from our experts
Store and charge batteries in a dedicated cabinet, away from exits, archives and flammable materials. Limit unattended charging and never charge a swollen, overheated or damaged battery.
Use original chargers, keep a record of equipment and train staff in the correct procedures: raising the alarm, evacuation, and never attempting to tackle a battery fire alone. Include this risk in your single safety document.
Discuss this with your insurer and your health and safety department. Our experts can help you choose a lithium battery safety cabinet suited to your volumes, premises and regulatory requirements.
Take action
➡️AllSafety’s lithium battery storage cabinets, the new generation.