BSI Published New Standard for the Safety Requirements of Button and Coin Batteries

2021-08-03

Background

In view of two fatal incidents caused by undetected button as well as coin cell battery ingestion in children, and on the recommendations from the UK’s Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch, the Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) commissioned the British Standards Institution (BSI) to produce a Publicly Available Specification (PAS) for button and coin batteries, along with household products that use them.

The BSI therefore published on 2021-04-30 its first standard of its kind: "PAS 7055:2021 Button and coin batteries —Safety requirements — Specification".

Major Requirements:

The purpose of this new standard is to set out consistent safety requirements to apply throughout the lifecycle of button and coin batteries in consumer markets, from purchase, use in household products to safe disposal. It will provide a guide of practice for manufacturers and retailers of batteries and household products that use batteries with respect to packaging, product casing, labelling and disposal to mitigate the risk of ingestion.

The Standard recognizes the risk that is posed by used batteries left in the house and also covers the need for immediate safe disposal of used button batteries. It also considers the marketing and packaging of button batteries regarding the security of packaging for each individual battery.

To mitigate the risk to children, this standard specifies safety requirements for non-lithium button and lithium coin batteries up to 32 mm in diameter and the products that use these batteries such as torches, greeting cards with audio, novelty balloons, digital scales, remote controls, key fobs, garage-door openers and watches.

The Standard also defines what manufacturers and producers are required to do with: Packaging, Instructions, Labelling, Marketing and Disposal.

Normative References:

Required to enforce compliance with these standards: