The Batteries You Didn’t Realise Your Workplace Was Managing

Maintenance counts tool packs, IT counts laptops and operations counts scanners. Each list may be accurate while missing part of the workplace's battery inventory.

Spare packs, contractor equipment and devices awaiting repair or collection also matter. Following our workplace battery-risk overview, this article explains how to bring that scattered information together.

Start with the equipment people use

Ask someone to show you “the batteries” and they may point to a shelf of removable packs. Ask what gets recharged during a working week and you are likely to get a broader answer.

Depending on the site, that conversation might include:

• Laptops, tablets, phones and portable power banks.
• Cordless drills, inspection tools and grounds-maintenance equipment.
• Handheld scanners, payment terminals and portable label printers.
• Cordless vacuums, floor-cleaning machines and other cleaning equipment.
• E-bikes, scooters or other battery-powered mobility equipment brought onto the premises.

These are prompts for a walkthrough, not a statement that every example uses the same battery chemistry. Rechargeable does not automatically mean lithium-ion. Check the equipment documentation or an accessible label; if the chemistry is unclear, record that uncertainty and ask the manufacturer or responsible supplier. Do not open a device or battery pack to investigate.

A battery built into a product still belongs in the picture. It does not have to be removable, visibly labelled on the outside or stored in a dedicated battery room to be relevant.

Follow the working day, including the hours you do not see

A daytime visit can miss an evening routine.

A cleaner may return equipment to a different room after staff leave. A maintenance team may bring tool packs back at the end of a shift. A scanner that is carried around the building all day may spend every night connected to a charger.

Talk to the people who use and look after the equipment. Ask where it starts the day, where it goes afterwards and what happens at weekends. Include contractors where their equipment or charging arrangements affect the premises.

Record where batteries are normally used, charged and kept between uses. Those may be three different locations. A purchasing record can tell you what the organisation bought; a conversation with the people doing the work can tell you where it actually ends up.

Look beyond equipment that is still in service

An inventory can become incomplete when it follows only the active equipment list.

Consider an illustrative example: an old laptop is replaced and marked as retired in the IT system. Physically, it remains in a cupboard awaiting collection. The asset record has moved on, but the battery is still on the premises.

The same gap can arise with spare tool packs, returned devices, equipment awaiting repair and batteries whose next destination has not been arranged.

Give these items a clear status and an owner responsible for the next step. “No longer used” describes a business decision; it does not tell you whether an item has left the site.

If an item has been reported as damaged or abnormal, record that separately and follow the site's reporting procedure. Do not put it back into use or charge it simply to find out whether it still works.

Ownership and presence are different questions

Contractor tools, personal power banks and temporary project equipment may never appear in purchasing records. Understand the activities that affect the premises: what equipment is permitted, where charging occurs and whether items stay overnight.

This calls for proportionate workplace arrangements, not an intrusive register of everyone's belongings. Include contractors and personal-device users in the relevant instructions and reporting route.

Count batteries without losing the context

Count each battery once, then describe its status and location. Packs fitted to tools, held as spares or charging may be parts of the same inventory; adding those categories to an existing total would double-count them.

Record when the count was taken and whether it is a snapshot or the maximum expected on site. Note simultaneous charging separately and mark estimates as estimates. The worked example below shows how to keep those distinctions clear.

Record the equipment model and readily available battery information too. Our next article explains volts, amp-hours and watt-hours; battery counts alone do not describe energy ratings or establish a safe arrangement.

Turn the walkthrough into a short, usable record

You do not need to begin with a complicated system. Start with one department or work area and capture:

• What the equipment or battery is, including its model where known.
• The total present, with spares and other operating states identified within that total.
• Where they are used, charged and kept between uses.
• Who is responsible for them and for keeping the information current.
• Whether they are in service, held as spares, awaiting repair or awaiting collection.
• What remains unknown and who will follow it up.

Use existing asset records and manufacturer information to fill gaps where possible. Do not disturb damaged equipment or move batteries into one place just to make counting easier.

If you encounter unusual heat, swelling, smoke or another sign of a developing problem, stop the walkthrough activity around that item and follow the site's safety or emergency procedure. Smoke or fire calls for an emergency response, not further investigation to complete a checklist. Our article on battery warning signs and what to do next explains why early reporting matters.

An example inventory entry

The following is an illustrative record, not an approved charging arrangement:

• Equipment: maintenance team’s removable tool batteries; record the actual model references.
• Snapshot: 24 packs—10 fitted to tools, eight spares and six charging. Do not add those states to the total again.
• Locations: identify the tool issue point, spare-stock location and each charging location separately.
• Ownership: maintenance supervisor; record the named deputy for absences.
• Open questions: peak quantity, permitted charger combinations and after-hours activity still to be confirmed.
• Follow-up: assign each missing answer to an owner and due date.

This entry separates a known count from an unanswered safety question. Completing the record does not approve the location or charging practice.

Keep the picture current

The record becomes more useful when someone owns it and there is a clear reason to update it.

New equipment, a change of cleaning contractor, an extra shift or a move to a different charging location can all change what is happening on site. Build an inventory check into those changes rather than relying only on an occasional recount.

A completed list does not prove that an arrangement is safe. It gives the people assessing the workplace a clearer starting point and makes unanswered questions easier to see.

Use our Battery Inventory & Site Risk Assessment guide for a record structure. Continue with What a Battery Label Can Tell You to make the equipment details more useful.

Further reading: OSHA: Lithium-ion Battery Safety.

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Editorial update: October 25, 2026. Prepared by Battery Safe Systems with AI assistance as general education for U.S. workplace readers. Follow manufacturer instructions, site procedures and applicable local requirements; this is not a site-specific assessment or independent certification. Workplace photographs are AI-generated illustrations. The inventory example is fictional and does not approve a charging or storage arrangement.