I have been searching for guidance on returning a site/asset to service after a lithium-ion battery fire, but I keep running into the same wall: plenty of material on prevention, detection, suppression and firefighting, but very little on what happens after the all-clear call.
Once the fire's out, how do you know the area is actually safe to re-enter?
How long do you monitor for off-gassing and re-ignition before you're confident the risk has passed?
What's the basis for deciding a space can be reinstated versus needing further remediation?
Formal standards in this area seem thin or still catching up, so a lot of what's actually happening in the field looks like it's being worked out site by site, sector by sector.
I'm hoping this discussion can help:
- What does your organisation actually do, in practice, after a Li-ion incident?
If you've been through a real event, in automotive, grid-scale, manufacturing, aviation, marine, recycling, distribution or otherwise, I'd be glad to hear about it.
A few questions to kick things off:
- What monitoring (gas detection, thermal imaging, etc.) and hold times do you use before permitting re-entry?
- Do you have a documented decision process for reinstating equipment or space versus condemning it, and who signs off?
- And has your approach changed following any incident, near-miss, or new internal guidance?
I am keen to compare notes across sectors, since I suspect there's more consistency in practice than in what's written down.
Thanks in advance.
Contact me directly if you prefer.
