Lithium Battery Fire Safety in Childcare Centres: A Practical Guide for Early Learning Services

An early learning centre is full of lithium-ion batteries that nobody thinks of as a fire risk. Educator tablets for documentation, the office laptop, cordless vacuums, rechargeable speakers, staff phones and power banks, and increasingly the e-bikes and e-scooters that staff and parents ride to the gate. Each one is safe almost all of the time. The question for a centre is what happens on the rare day one fails, in a building where the people you are responsible for cannot evacuate themselves.

This guide is for approved providers, nominated supervisors and centre managers who want to fold lithium-ion batteries into the emergency planning they already do, without creating a new compliance burden.

Why batteries belong in a centre's risk assessment

Lithium-ion battery fires are no longer unusual. Fire and Rescue NSW recorded 165 lithium-ion battery incidents in 2022, 273 in 2023 and 324 in 2024, with 86 people injured across those three years and two deaths in 2024 (Fire and Rescue NSW, 2026). The same report found that 40% of e-micromobility fires happened while the device was on charge or soon after it came off the charger, and it notes that the true number of battery fires in NSW is likely underreported (Fire and Rescue NSW, 2026).

Behaviour is part of the problem. A NSW Government survey released by Fire and Rescue NSW found that 73% of people charge devices while unattended, 70% charge batteries near living spaces or exits, and 64% leave devices plugged in after charging (Fire and Rescue NSW, 2025). Those habits do not stay at home. They come to work with staff, and they show up in staff rooms, offices and storerooms.

For a centre, the stakes are different to a home or an office. Lithium-ion fires develop quickly, and SafeWork NSW warns that failing batteries can release highly toxic fumes and can reignite even after the flames appear to be out (SafeWork NSW, 2026). Moving a room of toddlers, babies in cots and children with additional needs takes time, which is exactly what a battery fire does not give you.

What the National Regulations already ask of you

The good news is that centres already have the framework. Under the National Quality Framework, every approved service must have emergency and evacuation procedures. ACECQA's policy and procedure guidelines explain that these procedures must be informed by a risk assessment that identifies potential emergencies relevant to your service, and that they must be rehearsed and documented every three months (Australian Children's Education and Care Quality Authority [ACECQA], 2026). For centre-based services, the guidelines state that the risk assessment must be conducted at least once every 12 months, and as soon as practicable after the approved provider becomes aware of any circumstance that may affect the safe evacuation of children (ACECQA, 2026).

A battery fire is a realistic, site-specific emergency. Adding it to your existing risk assessment, and to at least one of your quarterly rehearsals, is a practical way to show that your procedures reflect how the centre actually operates today.

Centres are also workplaces. SafeWork NSW reminds businesses that an uncontrolled fire or explosion must be notified to the regulator even when nobody is injured (SafeWork NSW, 2026). Check the equivalent requirement in your state or territory and make sure your incident procedure covers it.

Where the batteries are in a typical centre

Before you can manage the risk, you need a list. Walk the building with your risk assessment open and note every place a lithium-ion battery is charged or stored. In most centres the list looks something like this:

  • Educator tablets and documentation devices: often charged together in a cupboard or on a bench overnight.
  • Office laptops and phones: usually in the administration area, close to the main entrance and exit.
  • Cordless cleaning and maintenance tools: vacuums, leaf blowers, drills and hedge trimmers in a storeroom or shed.
  • Rechargeable classroom equipment: speakers, portable lights, cameras and some sensory or educational toys.
  • Staff and family e-bikes and e-scooters: parked near the entry, in a corridor or, in the worst case, charged in the staff room.
  • Power banks and personal devices: in staff lockers and bags.

Mark each location on your site plan. Pay close attention to anything near an exit path, a sleep room or a nappy change area, because a fire there either blocks the way out or affects the children who are slowest to move.

A practical battery checklist for centres

Most of the risk can be removed through simple, consistent habits. These steps draw on guidance from Fire and Rescue NSW, SafeWork NSW and the ACCC.

Charging

  • Choose one designated charging point for centre devices, away from exits, sleep rooms and children's areas.
  • Charge on a hard, non-combustible surface, not on couches, cushions or carpet, and away from combustible materials (Australian Competition and Consumer Commission [ACCC], 2023).
  • Do not leave batteries charging unattended or for long periods (SafeWork NSW, 2026). Build a "chargers off" step into your closing routine rather than charging overnight.
  • Do not store or charge devices near exit points (Fire and Rescue NSW, 2025).
  • Use the charger supplied by the manufacturer, and never mix and match components (Fire and Rescue NSW, 2025).

Storage

  • Store batteries and devices in a cool, dry place away from direct sunlight, heat sources and flammable materials (SafeWork NSW, 2026). Summer storerooms and sheds can get very hot.
  • Keep cordless tool batteries in the storeroom, not in the children's spaces.
  • Set a clear rule for staff e-bikes and e-scooters: park outside or in a designated area, and do not charge them inside the centre unless you have a dedicated, assessed charging location.

Damaged and old batteries

  • Remove any swollen, dropped, crushed, hot or smelly device from service immediately. SafeWork NSW advises never to use damaged batteries (SafeWork NSW, 2026).
  • Never put lithium-ion batteries in general waste or recycling bins (ACCC, 2023). Keep a small, labelled container for old batteries and take them to a battery drop-off point.

Buying

  • Buy devices from reputable suppliers. In NSW, e-bikes, e-scooters and their batteries sold since 1 February 2025 must comply with prescribed safety standards (NSW Government, 2025). The same release reported that e-micromobility vehicles caused 193 fires in NSW between 2022 and early 2025.
  • Check the Product Safety Australia recalls list when you buy, and periodically for devices you already own.

Building battery fires into your evacuation rehearsal

The single most important rule does not change: if a lithium-ion battery catches fire, the priority is getting children and staff out. SafeWork NSW's advice for workplaces is not to attempt to put the fire out, to evacuate the area and to call Triple Zero (000) immediately (SafeWork NSW, 2026). Firefighting equipment is there to buy time in the very early seconds, and only if a trained staff member can use it without putting anyone at risk.

Use one of your quarterly rehearsals to walk through a battery scenario:

  1. Raise the alarm: the educator who notices hissing, popping, an unusual smell or smoke alerts the room and the nominated supervisor.
  2. Move children away first: evacuate the affected room, and decide in advance which rooms evacuate next, because toxic smoke spreads.
  3. Close doors behind you: this slows smoke and fire spread.
  4. Call 000: tell the operator it is a lithium-ion battery fire.
  5. Account for every child: use your attendance records at the assembly point, as you do in any evacuation.
  6. Do not go back in: batteries can reignite well after the flames die down (SafeWork NSW, 2026).

Afterwards, debrief with the team and record what you learned. If the rehearsal shows that a charging point sits too close to an exit, move it. That is exactly the kind of improvement the rehearsal process is designed to surface.

Equipment that suits an early learning centre

A centre does not need industrial equipment. It needs a small amount of the right equipment, in the right places, with staff who know when to use it and when to walk away.

  • Fire-Resistant Laptop & Lithium-ion Battery Bag: a practical place to charge and store office laptops, tablets and power banks, and somewhere to put a device that has started to swell or overheat while you arrange safe disposal.
  • 2m x 2m E-Bike & E-Scooter Fire Blanket: suited to a staff room, storeroom or e-bike parking area. Mounted near the charging point, it gives a trained adult an option to smother a small device fire in its earliest stage, once children are moving away.
  • Lithium Battery Fire Safety Awareness: Online Course: a self-paced course that helps educators recognise warning signs, charge and store batteries safely and respond calmly. It fits neatly into induction and annual refresher training.

Whatever you choose, record it in your risk assessment, show staff where it is during induction, and include it in your quarterly rehearsal so it becomes part of routine rather than an unfamiliar object on the wall.

A short safety note

Equipment and planning reduce risk, but they never replace evacuation. If a lithium-ion battery is smoking, venting or on fire, get everyone out, close the door behind you and call 000. Do not put staff at risk to save a device or a room.

References

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