More and more, and bigger and bigger, Lithium batteries are in our lives, houses, vehicles and places of work. There are a number of risks with these, if they are damaged (by dropping- cell phones, tablets and Lap tops) over charging (leaving that toy, tool, phone etc over night) using the incorrect charger (not all USB chargers are created equal).
Another house fire sent me down a worm hole and it's quite scary, as a test & tagger of tools, appliances, and equipment connected to a 230/415volt supply via plug, I found plenty of issues that could have peculated away to the point of catching/causing a fire with lap top chargers and their IEC leads and phone chargers, reading a BRANZ Build article on Lithium Ion Batteries (LIBs) reinforces that this is a heath & safety issue that is steadily getting worse


Branz have produced a very good white paper on LIBs and the issues that surround them, if you have time over Easter, download it and have a read.
And consider how and where you charge the devices in your lives that contain them, it's not a good idea to place them on charge in a bedroom.

A quick rough guide to charging LIBs:

• Use the correct charger (not all USB chargers are created equal)
• Examine the battery before charging for signs of damage, swelling, unusual odour, colour change or
  overheating
• Don't leave devices on charge for extended periods (or unsupervised)
• Don't use counterfeit/non OEM batteries in your devices/tools
• Do not charge a device under a pillow, on the bed or on a couch – they can overheat and cause a
  fire
• Don't place charging devices/LIBs on anything that could catch fire
• Get a heat detector alarm for your garage & kitchen if you charge LIBs there (smoke alarms are no
  good where dust and fumes are normally present)
• Don't leave LIBs in direct sunlight or vehicles
• Don't use damaged USB leads with your devices
• Have a fire rated charging bay if you have multiple LIBs charging at once
• Maintain a watch on recalls

Have a great Easter break folks