A partnership to advance lithium-ion fire safety and standardisation in India begins this month with a training and knowledge-sharing virtual seminar on electric vehicles and energy storage systems.
The event will bring together key fire safety stakeholders, including those in fire services, academia, associations, standards organisations and research institutes, among others.
The seminar is the first event following a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed by safety science leader Underwriters Laboratories and the National Fire Service College (NFSC).
NFSC is an Institute of Excellence for training fire and emergency service professionals in Nagpur, India.
UL and NFSC will explore collaborative opportunities with other regulatory organisations relating to battery fires in electric mobility (e-mobility) and grid energy storage systems.
The two organisations signed the MoU on 30 July as part of the ongoing fire research study ‘Battery Fires: Study of Response Strategy of Indian Fire Services’.
Dr. Judy Jeevarajan, director of the Underwriters Laboratories Electrochemical Safety Research Institute, said: “Given India’s accelerated use of lithium-ion batteries, it is critical for the nation’s fire services to be prepared with the right knowledge, equipment and infrastructure to handle any emergency fire situations.
“This collaboration is a major step towards creating battery fire safety awareness.”
The NFSC memorandum builds upon an ongoing partnership between UL and the government of India that include a MoU with the Bureau of Indian Standards to strengthen India’s standardisation system.
UL battery safety experts will lead a training workshop in November on the various safety aspects of lithium-ion batteries and discussions will begin on the development of a battery fire safety NFSC course curriculum.
