Most Australian workplace emergency plans were written for a fire that behaves a certain way: it starts, it spreads, occupants evacuate, and the fire brigade extinguishes it with water. Lithium-ion battery fires do not follow that script. They can ignite without warning. They burn far hotter than an ordinary fire. They can reignite hours after they appear to be out. And they release toxic gas that makes the surrounding area dangerous well beyond the flames. And they are now present in almost every workplace, in cordless tools, e-bikes and e-scooters, laptops, uninterruptible power supply (UPS) units, and large battery energy storage systems.

This guide covers lithium-ion battery fires from a workplace emergency-planning perspective: why they behave differently, how big the risk has become in Australia, where the hazard sits in your building, the new regulatory obligations, and what your emergency plan and Emergency Control Organisation (ECO) need to do about it. It builds on our guides on emergency management manuals and the AS 3745 Emergency Control Organisation.

Why lithium-ion fires are different

A lithium-ion battery fire is driven by a process called thermal runaway. When a cell is damaged, overcharged, overheated, or manufactured with a defect, it can enter a self-sustaining reaction that generates its own heat and oxygen. That has several consequences your plan has to account for:

• The fire is extremely hot. Lithium-ion battery fires can reach temperatures exceeding 1000 degrees Celsius and produce toxic gases including hydrogen fluoride and carbon monoxide.
• It spreads cell to cell. Thermal runaway can cause adjacent battery cells to ignite, so a single laptop or e-bike battery can escalate quickly.
• It produces a toxic gas cloud. The vented gas is flammable and harmful to breathe, which means the danger zone extends beyond the visible fire and evacuation needs to start earlier and reach further.
• It reignites. A battery that appears extinguished can reignite minutes or hours later, which changes re-entry decisions and post-incident procedures.
• Water alone often will not stop it, because a lithium-ion fire is not simply burning fuel that can be smothered. The reaction happens inside the sealed cell, which generates its own heat and can reignite the fire even after the visible flames are out. Large quantities of water can cool the cells, but the reaction can continue internally, so this is not a fire your staff should attempt to fight beyond the earliest, smallest stage.

The practical takeaway: a lithium-ion fire is a get-people-out-and-call-Triple-Zero event far earlier than a conventional small fire, and the injury risk is higher. Fire and Rescue statistics indicate people are around four times more likely to be injured in a fire that originates from a lithium-ion battery compared with other fire types.

The scale of the risk in Australia

This is not a fringe hazard. It is the fastest-growing fire risk in the country, and the trend line is steep.

• Fire and Rescue NSW responded to 332 lithium-ion battery fires in 2025, up from 323 in 2024 and 272 in 2023. The 2023 figure was itself well up on 165 in 2022.
• In 2024, NSW recorded its first two fatalities due to a lithium-ion battery fire.
• The problem is national, not just a NSW one. Western Australia recorded a lithium-ion battery fire almost every second day across 2024, its worst year on record, and in South Australia callouts to lithium battery fires increased nearly ten-fold over five years.
• In 2026, Fire and Rescue NSW had already recorded 62 battery fires in the community and at least 12 in garbage trucks, waste facilities and rubbish tips early in the year, with a further 103 waste-industry fires suspected to involve batteries.

For a workplace, the relevant point is that the devices driving these numbers, e-micromobility, power tools, and stored batteries, are exactly the items accumulating in Australian offices, warehouses, depots and construction sites.

Where the hazard sits in your workplace

The first job is to find the batteries. Common workplace sources of lithium-ion fire risk include:

• E-bikes and e-scooters brought in by staff and charged at desks or in storerooms
• Cordless power tools and their charging stations on construction and maintenance sites
• Laptops, tablets, phones and their chargers
• Uninterruptible power supply (UPS) units in server and communications rooms
• Battery energy storage systems (BESS) attached to solar installations
• Two-way radio batteries, drones, and other battery-powered plant
• Bulk storage of batteries or battery-powered stock in retail and logistics

The highest-risk behaviours are the same ones the fire services keep identifying: charging on or near combustible materials, using incorrect or non-genuine chargers, charging unattended or overnight, and using damaged or modified batteries. In one Sydney incident in early 2025, an e-scooter exploded and caught fire, with investigators pointing to an incorrect charger used with a modified device, two of the leading causes of lithium-ion battery fires.

The new regulatory obligation

The regulatory environment has moved quickly, and NSW is leading it.

• Since 22 August 2025, the NSW Work Health and Safety Regulation 2025 has required workplaces storing 25,000 kilograms or more of lithium-ion batteries to prepare an emergency plan addressing lithium battery fire risk management and to submit that plan to Fire and Rescue NSW. That threshold is primarily aimed at large-scale storage and some transport depots, but the broader duty of care applies to every site regardless of battery volume.
• In April 2026, the NSW Government passed nation-leading battery legislation, with penalties of up to 880,000 dollars for battery suppliers who fail to comply.
• On the product side, mandatory testing and certification of relevant products was introduced in August 2025, with labelling requirements taking effect in February 2026.

Even if your site sits well under the storage threshold, the underlying Work Health and Safety (WHS) duty to manage a foreseeable risk still applies. Lithium-ion battery fires are now a well-known and fast-growing hazard, so it makes sense to treat them as a foreseeable risk and cover them in your risk assessment and emergency plan alongside the hazards you already manage.

What your emergency plan needs to cover

Bringing lithium-ion battery risk into an AS 3745 emergency plan does not mean rewriting the plan. It means adding the hazard properly and adjusting the response. At minimum:

Hazard identification and register

Document where batteries are used, charged and stored across the site, the approximate quantities, and the higher-risk items (UPS, BESS, bulk storage). This feeds the facility risk assessment.

Prevention and storage controls

Designate charging locations away from exits, egress routes and combustible materials. Require genuine chargers, prohibit charging of damaged or modified devices, and set rules on unattended and overnight charging. For larger quantities, consider dedicated charging cabinets or storage areas with appropriate separation.

Detection

Confirm that smoke detection covers charging and storage areas. For server rooms and battery storage, consider whether additional detection is warranted, since early warning is critical given how fast thermal runaway escalates.

Response procedure

Make the response explicit: on any sign of a swelling, hissing, smoking or venting battery, evacuate the immediate area, activate the alarm, and call Triple Zero early. Staff should not attempt to fight anything beyond the very earliest, smallest stage, and never a fire in a large battery or a bank of cells. Account for the toxic gas cloud by widening the initial exclusion area.

Briefing emergency services

The presence and location of batteries is exactly the kind of hazard your Chief Warden must convey on arrival. A crew that knows there is a lithium-ion UPS or a battery store on the affected floor will approach the incident very differently. See our guide on the handover to emergency services for how to structure that briefing.

Reignition and re-entry

Because these fires can reignite, re-entry should not occur until emergency services confirm it is safe, and the incident is not closed out at the point the flames stop.

Test it, then learn from it

A battery fire scenario is an ideal addition to your exercise program precisely because it breaks the assumptions built into a standard fire drill: earlier evacuation, a wider exclusion zone, a hazard to brief, and a reignition watch. Building it into your rotation is straightforward, and our guide on designing multi-year evacuation exercise scenarios shows how to slot it in. Whenever you run the scenario, or if you ever have a real battery incident, capture the lessons through a structured post-incident debrief and feed them back into the plan.

Get your workplace ready

Lithium-ion battery risk is the clearest example in years of a hazard that has outrun most existing emergency plans. Addressing it is a small, high-value update: identify the batteries, control charging and storage, adjust the response, and brief and exercise your ECO. First 5 Minutes has helped Australian organisations keep their emergency plans aligned with real, current risks for more than 40 years. Explore our audits and inspections service, our AS 3745 compliance essentials, and our facility emergency evacuation plan service, or contact our team on 1300 321 120 to bring lithium-ion battery risk into your emergency plan.

Frequently asked questions

Why are lithium-ion battery fires more dangerous than ordinary fires?

They are driven by thermal runaway, a self-sustaining reaction that produces intense heat, burns hotter than 1000 degrees Celsius, releases toxic and flammable gas, spreads from cell to cell, and can reignite after appearing to be out. Water alone often will not stop the internal reaction, which is why they are a get-out-and-call-Triple-Zero event rather than one to fight.

Does my workplace have to comply with the NSW lithium-ion battery rules?

Since 22 August 2025, NSW workplaces storing 25,000 kilograms or more of lithium-ion batteries must prepare a lithium battery fire emergency plan and submit it to Fire and Rescue NSW. Most workplaces sit below that threshold, but the general Work Health and Safety duty to manage a foreseeable risk still requires the hazard to be in your risk assessment and emergency plan regardless of volume.

Should staff try to put out a lithium-ion battery fire?

Only at the very earliest and smallest stage, and never a fire involving a large battery, a UPS, or a bank of cells. Once a battery is venting, smoking or well alight, the correct action is to evacuate the area, widen the exclusion zone for the toxic gas, raise the alarm and call Triple Zero.

What causes most workplace battery fires?

The recurring causes identified by the fire services are incorrect or non-genuine chargers, damaged or modified batteries and devices, and charging on or near combustible materials, often unattended or overnight.

How should we store and charge batteries safely at work?

Charge in designated areas away from exits and combustible materials, use only genuine chargers, remove damaged or swollen batteries from service, avoid unattended and overnight charging where possible, and for larger quantities use dedicated charging cabinets or separated storage.

What about the UPS in our server room?

A lithium-ion UPS is a concentrated battery hazard in a critical room. It should be in your hazard register, covered by detection, and specifically flagged in the information your Chief Warden briefs to emergency services on arrival.

Do we need to change our evacuation procedure for battery fires?

The core procedure holds, but battery fires warrant earlier evacuation and a wider initial exclusion area because of the toxic gas, plus a reignition watch that delays re-entry until emergency services confirm it is safe.

How common are these fires really?

Fire and Rescue NSW recorded 332 lithium-ion battery fires in 2025, up from 323 in 2024, 272 in 2023 and 165 in 2022, and describes them as the fastest-growing fire risk in the state. The pattern is national, with severe increases in Western Australia and South Australia as well.

Are e-bikes and e-scooters allowed in the workplace?

That is a policy decision for each organisation. Given they are behind a large share of battery fires, many workplaces now restrict where they can be brought and charged, require charging only in designated areas, and prohibit charging of modified devices.

How do we build this into our emergency plan without starting over?

Add the battery hazard to your risk assessment and hazard register, set charging and storage controls, adjust the fire response for earlier evacuation and reignition risk, brief your ECO, and run a battery fire scenario in your next exercise. It is an update to an existing AS 3745 plan, not a new plan.