Sun. Feb 16th, 2025

3 Safety Tips for Handling Car Batteries

How To Change Your Own Car Battery | Direct Auto Insurance

Car batteries are necessary for automobiles to run. It is a myth that car batteries will electrocute and kill you; while you can get a slight shock, and on a technical level car batteries do have enough amps to kill a person, chances of it causing death are unlikely. This is due to the low voltage of car batteries. However, batteries still come with dangers like an explosion and highly corrosive sulfuric acid. Leaking batteries also pose an environmental hazard. Because of the associated risks, it is important to be cautious when working with car batteries. Here are three tips for safely handling automobile batteries Winter Garden FL.

  1. Keep Personal Protective Equipment On

Because battery acid is capable of severely damaging both equipment and human skin, it is important to always wear personal protective equipment when doing maintenance like cleaning corrosion off of batteries. This includes a face shield or safety glasses and gloves.

  1. Keep Metal Away

You should also make sure no metal makes contact with the battery. If you are wearing metal jewelry on your hands, neck or wrists, you should remove it. Avoid using uninsulated metal tools. While you won’t get electrocuted if the metal touches the battery, you might experience a spark that can burn you. 

  1. Keep Fire Sources Away

Another important precaution is to keep flammables and open flames away from batteries. If you smoke, do not smoke close to your exposed car battery. Also, avoid having electrical equipment that produces sparks like welders a safe distance away. Any kind of spark or flame can cause batteries to catch fire or combust. 

Batteries may not kill people outright through electrocution like they do in horror movies, but neither are they completely safe. There is still a risk of explosion. The acid produced by batteries is also extremely harmful to humans. So consider following these tips and staying safe the next time you need to mess with a car battery.