On Wednesday, April 17, ISRI will host the session “Currents of Cares: Navigating Electric Vehicle Shipping and Storage Safety” during the ISRI2024 Convention & Exposition in Las Vegas.
Featuring Brett Brenner, president of the Electrical Safety Foundation, Jeff Haltrecht, executive at Call2Recycle, Mary Johnson, president and creative director at SYNAPSE, and Robert Schneider, director of training and education at Energy Security Agency, the session will cover how to ensure the safety and integrity of electric vehicles (EVs) throughout their shipping and storage lifecycle. As the world becomes more electrified, understanding and implementing best practices for EV and battery transportation, storage, and mitigation of thermal event is paramount for the recycled materials industry.
ISRI News had the opportunity to chat with panelist Mary Johnson about what she’s excited about for the upcoming session at ISRI2024 and some of the experiences she’s planning to share with attendees.
What can attendees look forward to learning about during the session?
Attendees can look forward to learning tips on safely storing and transporting EVs and high-voltage batteries. They’ll learn actionable information they can take back to their teams.
What are you most looking forward to about the session?
Every time I talk to an EV battery expert, I learn something new, and I love that. The more conversations we have around EVs and high-voltage batteries, the stronger our industry will be as a whole.
Can you tell me about your expertise/background?
I create safety training videos and online content geared toward the recycled materials industry. I have the pleasure of working with the ISRI safety team to develop their online EV battery training course.
Last year, we launched https://evsafetytraining.talentlms.com, which provides a high-level overview of inbounding and handling EVs. I’d recommend that anyone who inbounds vehicles or works near EVs take this course. The online course is free for everyone. It’s also a prerequisite to the in-person training. This year, we’re launching the Spanish version of the course to help even more of ISRI’s members.
Can you tell me about some of the highlights you might share during the session, how do you hope your stories/experiences impact other recyclers?
If I were to share anything, I would encourage attendees to take the online EV course that ISRI developed. ISRI put together a great team of world-class experts to create the course, and I had the pleasure of working with them.
What do you hope attendees learn or gain from the session?
I look forward to attendees taking home actionable advice on safely handling, storing, and shipping EVs and high-voltage batteries.
EVs and high-voltage batteries come with risks, and that’s okay. The recycling industry knows how to assess and manage risks. We know that it takes time and effort to implement new procedures and tweak them to best fit the needs of our operations. The benefit of doing the heavy lifting now pays off in the long run by creating efficient operations, a safer workplace, and a healthy community. It’s a win-win for everyone.
Is there anything else I haven’t asked you that you think potential session attendees should know about?
EVs and high-voltage batteries are already impacting our industry and communities, and we’ll continue seeing more of them. It can feel like a lot, like uncharted territory. On top of that, it can be jarring to see photos from a thermal event because an EV battery fire is different than a typical internal combustion engine car fire.
That’s why this is a must-attend session for any safety or operations manager for a facility that inbounds EVs and high-voltage batteries. The best experts are presenting. You will learn something actionable that you can take back and share with your team. And if the speakers can’t answer your questions, ISRI’s team will find someone who can.
