New E-Bike and E-Scooter Safety Guidance for Managing Premises

The Department for Transport has released new guidance for managers of premises on how to manage the fire risk associated with storing and charging e-bikes and e-scooters on site. The guidance intends to promote fire safety without limiting the utility of e-bikes and e-scooters.

 

The primary risk is a fire involving the vehicle’s battery. The number of lithium battery fires associated with e-scooters and e-bikes has increased year on year, from 77 in 2020 to 227 in 2022 to a forecasted 338 in 2023. The potential introduction of lithium batteries as a new fire hazard would require a review of the fire risk assessment for the premises.

 

To combat lithium battery fires, the guidance identifies three main stages where the risk can be mitigated.

 

Firstly, the guidance suggests educating users of e-bikes and e-scooters and promoting government and local fire and rescue service guidance for users of e-bikes and e-scooters.

 

The second stage is providing safe facilities for users. This includes providing secure battery storage and charging facilities and ensuring that any storage has been upgraded for enhanced fire safety. The guidance includes specifics on what design features should be considered for safe charging and storage locations.

 

The final stage is managing the premises. This involves implementing policies ensuring that facilities are used correctly, such as:

• Restricting the storage of e-bikes and e-scooters in common areas, stairwells, and fire escape routes
• If there are appropriate facilities for charging, encourage users to leave batteries in place on e-bikes and e-scooters to charge them rather than removing batteries to charge them elsewhere
• Ensuring appropriate security measures are in place for the facilities
• Ensuring that damaged batteries are not brought onto the premises
• Depending on the premises, it may be necessary to implement a policy restricting e-bike and e-scooter charging on the premises

 

Finally, it is important to review all policies and risk assessments regularly to ensure that measures are up-to-date and effective.

 

The guidance can be found here.

 

Guidance is also available for general users of e-bikes and e-scooters regarding how to buy, safely store, charge, and spot potential warning signs of a fire hazard. This can be found here.

 

If you have any questions or would like support with managing issues at your workplace, please speak to your usual contact or get in touch using the form below.