To coincide with yesterday’s National Battery Day 2024, the British Safety Council has published an introductory guide for employers on managing the risks from storing and charging Lithium Ion (Li-on) batteries in the workplace.

Most e-bikes are powered by Li-on batteries, larger versions of the kind found in our smartphones, tablets, and some laptops.

In a recent, UK-based survey of users (and potential users) of e-bikes, 40 per cent of current users commuted to (and from) a place of work, with 20 per cent having used them for business travel.

Over the last six months batteries have regularly made headlines, with tragic stories of fires and explosions, resulting in injury and loss of life. Many of these were traced back to the charging of Li-on e-scooters and e-bikes.

Questions have therefore arisen around how we use, charge, and store e-bikes in the workplace – and the additional hazards and risks that this may bring.

The British Safety Council’s introductory guide recognises the challenges posed by the storage and charging of lithium-powered e-bikes and scooters in the workplace and provides employers with some tips to help mitigate the risks.

Phil Pinnington, Head of Audit and Consultancy, British Safety Council, said: “As with all new and developing technologies, the increasing use of e-bikes and scooters has prompted a wave of new questions, considerations, and challenges – not least for employers, as e-bikes and scooters have entered the workplace; and are routinely charged at (or under) our desks. British Safety Council’s ‘Introductory Guide’ to Li-on batteries in the workplace offers a series of tips to help employers identify and assess the risks posed, how to put control measures in place, and shows some of the solutions being used around the world.”

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