New Safety Standards for All Button Battery Products
In Australia, one child a month is seriously injured after swallowing or inserting a button battery. Some of them sustain serious, lifelong injuries as a result of choking or chemical burns. In Australia and globally, there is a growing record of injuries and deaths from button batteries.
To deal with this deeply concerning issue, the Australian Federal Government has created two new compliance standards governing the use and supply of button batteries.
These standards are applicable in all states and territories of Australia and affect almost all consumer products containing button/coin batteries. All businesses that supply button batteries or supply products containing button batteries in Australia must comply with these standards.
Key Points of the New Standards
- All goods containing button/coin batteries must be secure and not release the batteries during reasonably foreseeable use or misuse conditions.
- Consumer goods containing button/coin batteries that are intended to be replaced by the user must have a secure battery compartment that is resistant to being opened by young children.
- Consumer goods containing button/coin batteries must provide warnings and information about the battery hazard on the product packaging and in the instructions for use.
Businesses will have 18 months to comply with the new standards.
The details of these new standards and how to comply with them are available from the BWES technical team.