In short
Two separate problems that get conflated. Design technology and estates tool batteries are yours to control through procurement and storage. Pupil e-scooters and staff e-bikes are not — they simply arrive, and the only decision you get to make is where they spend the day.
The population you control
Cordless tool batteries in design technology, grounds maintenance equipment, cleaning machinery, IT device batteries and spares. All bought through your procurement, all storable in one place.
This part is straightforward: original chargers only, a single storage and charging location away from teaching spaces and escape routes, and a named person responsible. A DT prep room with tool batteries on charge on an open shelf next to timber offcuts and finishing products is the arrangement worth finding first — see storing and charging safely.
The population you do not
E-scooters and e-bikes ridden in by pupils and staff, bought anywhere, sometimes converted, occasionally charged from a socket in a cloakroom or a classroom. You cannot control what is bought. You can control whether it is charged on site at all, and where it is stored during the day.
- The simplest defensible position is that personal e-mobility devices are not charged on the premises, and are stored in a designated location — external where possible — rather than in cloakrooms, corridors or classrooms.
- Say it explicitly. “No charging of personal scooters or bikes anywhere on site” is enforceable; “use equipment safely” is not.
- Provide the storage anyway. Without somewhere to put a scooter, it goes behind a door on an escape route.
Why escape routes matter more here
A school evacuates a large number of people who are following a practised routine along known routes. Anything charging or stored in a corridor, a stairwell or a cloakroom sits directly in that flow. Boarding accommodation adds sleeping occupants and moves the setting closer to the care sector in terms of what the fire strategy assumes.
The duties are the ordinary ones — a suitable and sufficient risk assessment, and general fire precautions under the applicable fire safety legislation. See UK law on storing lithium-ion batteries at work. Nothing about a school changes the legal test; what changes is the consequence.
Frequently asked questions
Can we ban pupils from bringing e-scooters to school?
Storage and charging on the premises is within your gift as an occupier, and a policy that permits storage but prohibits charging is both proportionate and enforceable. Banning the device outright is a wider behaviour and travel question for the school rather than a fire safety one. Whichever you choose, record the reasoning in the fire risk assessment.
Where should design technology tool batteries be charged?
In one location, away from timber, dust, finishing products and aerosols, and not in a room used for teaching while charging is under way. A prep room or store is usually right. If the total energy content is significant — count the watt-hours rather than the batteries — a tested cabinet with detection is a reasonable next step. How to count.
What should staff do if a pupil reports a hot or swollen battery?
Treat it as a fire risk immediately: do not charge it, do not put it in a bag or a bin, move people away from it rather than moving it through occupied space, and escalate to the named responsible person. Your emergency plan should name this scenario explicitly, including that vented gas is toxic and that staff evacuate rather than intervene.