Not strictly radio, but related. Ive become a bit miffed recently by the way Post Office staff demand to know the content of any package your sending. Now, I fully appreciate that there are certain items that are dangerous to send, but they do seem to have a particular downer on batteries.
I also appreciate that under certain circumstances some chemistries can be dangerous. I would for instance never dream of attempting to post a wet cell Lead Acid! But a Sealed Lead Acid/AGM is, so long as the terminals are securely insulated, about as safe as sending anything else. Likewise, A badly packed LiPo could be dangerous if damaged in transit (which would then raise the question of poor handling!) but if securely and sufficiently packed is perfectly safe.
Yet, it occurred to me that despite Royal Mails protestations that batteries are the postal antichrist, I cant find a single reference to an actual incident in which either a vehicle or operative have been damaged or injured as a result of shipping a battery. So, I thought i'd ask!
Although Royal Mail Group are no longer a government organisation, and as such do not have to comply with a freedom of information act request, it seems they still do so voluntarily. So I have lodged my request, as worded below -
Dear Royal Mail Group Limited,
I would like to request the release of any recorded statistics
relating to safety incidents, such as leaks, burns, or fire, caused
during the shipping of batteries on ground based (i.e - non-aircraft)
movements within the UK mainland. Where-ever possible this information
should differentiate between different battery chemistries, i.e.
Lead-Acid, Alkaline, Nickel Cadmium, Nickel Metal Hydroxide, Primary
Lithium and other Lithium chemistries.
Yours faithfully,
I believe this is sufficiently succinct, direct, specific, and to the point. All I am asking for, in effect, is information that any sensible organisations Health and Safety dept should be collating as a matter of course anyway.
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