Government Be Ready Campaign: Power Bank Safety including Charging plus role of Neighbourhood watch

Government Be Ready Campaign: Power Bank Safety including Charging plus role of Neighbourhood watch

Calls by Ministers to follow the Government Be Ready campaign and National Resilience Checklist English have led to a massive rise in sales of wind up radio and power banks, not just bottled water and tinned food.  

British Red Cross has updated its guidance How to prepare your home for 72 hours in case of emergency which goes into more detail on medical kits.

Those of you who were already prepared will be checking that your radio and power banks are fully charged.  It is therefore timely to remind you of the risks associated with their lithium batteries particularly with charging them if damaged, hot, under load or already fully charged. 

See:  

Batteries and chargers - Fire safety at home | London Fire Brigade

Electrical Safety Advice for Power Banks

and 

Power Bank Safety Tips: The Complete Guide for UK and EU Users – UGREEN UK

A bigger and more lethal risk remains, however, e-bikes and e-scooters being charged where a fire would block the exit to the building.  

E-bikes and e-scooters: Fire safety advice | London Fire Brigade

Also remember the role of Neighbourhood Watch - neighbours looking after neighbours, providing a human access channel to police and local services and, in extremis, to  the  emergency volunteering services  (see Volunteering and helping others - Be Ready ).

If you do not have an active local group, or do not know who your group co-ordinator is, please reply to this message.

Please e-mail development@lambethnhw.co.uk if you are willing to to help update the contacts section of the Lambeth website and produce regularly updated paper-based guidance - i.e. not dependent on power supply when you need it most.