Narrative:

As we were getting ready to go; a gate agent arrived in the flight deck with the form for a wheelchair battery; and told us that we had a dry cell battery on board from a passenger's collapsible wheelchair. Also; the passenger would be keeping the battery with him in the cabin 'because that's what he was told on the way to ZZZ from far.' further; it was the passenger that told the gate agents that the battery was a dry cell. As near as I could tell at this point no [company] employee had looked at the battery to see what kind of battery it was. I should point out that the wheelchair battery form was completely filled out; with each box under 'dry cell/gel non-spillable battery (ssr code-wcbd)' checked. There was no indication on the bottom of the form where the battery was located; however.this of course didn't sound right; and after consulting the fom and reading the form; it clearly wasn't. My first officer and I agreed that dry cell batteries are always kept in the cargo hold. So; I went out on the jetway and confirmed that yes; we had a collapsible wheelchair. Also; I confirmed with the agent that yes; the passenger had the battery with him in the cabin and that the passenger was the one that identified the battery as a dry cell. But if we have a dry cell; it clearly needs to go in the cargo bin; so I asked the agent to see if we could arrange that.so I went down to operations and the flight planning area to get hold of the dangerous goods hotline and talk with the ops folks to figure out what was going on.the operations person said they had just gotten off the phone with the dangerous goods hotline; who had told them to check what was the manufacturer of the battery to determine where it could be safely kept. This didn't sound right; either (I must have mis-heard this?) so I called the dangerous goods hotline myself. The very helpful person (thank you!) agreed with me that if it was dry cell; it must be kept in the cargo hold. Since the wheelchair was collapsible; it would have to go in a battery box. Clarity was achieved!I got with the ops person; let her know what I had been told - and read the language from the form. She agreed that this made sense; and ops began working on finding a battery box. At this point; I was pretty happy but with all the confusion I made sure that they were not to put the battery in the box and cargo hold until I looked at the battery myself. I'm glad I did...arriving back at the bottom of the jetway stairs; the battery had just made its way out of the cabin and onto the jetway; one of the ramp agents brought it down right as a battery box arrived. Now; I finally got a look at the battery. There are almost no identifying markings; no manufacturer; no type of battery. There is one sticker with some power ratings; and a small sticker with tiny type and safety bullet points. The final bullet point: 'please use the exclusive li-ion charger.'ok! Now we know that the folks in far did it right - the battery needs to stay in the cabin; and not in the box in the cargo hold. The original form that I was handed - with all of the boxes checked for a dry cell battery - was incorrect and we needed a new form which I requested. Reading from the fom copy of the form; I talked with our passenger who was on the jetway with us; and verified with him that he would ensure the battery would be below the seat in front of him; and where he was seated. I also verified with the passenger that the two leads coming off the battery would be separated and covered although they're clearly safely covered by the connectors that are used. I also called the dangerous goods hotline again to see if we could figure out if the battery met the maximum 300WH requirement. With the information from the white sticker (24v10ah); the dangerous goods expert did the simple math and verified that this was a 240WH battery - we were good to go. The passenger now returned to his seat; with the battery.a new form was procured; filled out and signed - with all of the dry cell boxes checked. I explained that no; this was a lithium ion battery; and *those* boxes needed to be completed. A third form was requested; it was going to be filled out by the gate agents at the gate podium. So; I went up there to see how that was going. This form was filled out while I was standing there; all of the boxes in the 'lithium ion battery (ssr code-wclb)' box were checked; and the form was signed by the csr. Unfortunately; the csr didn't personally check to see that any of the steps under item 'B' were complete or correct. I reviewed with him and the other two agents there that I had done each of the steps under item 'B.' the remaining item was that the passenger's seat number needed to be filled in - which the agent initially refused to do since that was 'the ramp agent's job.' we got past this; and got the passenger's seat number in the correct place. I took my copy; and we were ready to go.in hindsight; the form was *still* filled out incorrectly. The flight was not going to far; but to ZZZ1. All of the boxes in the lithium ion section were checked; although only the items in section B were required.at the end of the day; we got it done correctly; with a small paperwork error. The causes; from my point of view; are almost all training related compounded by a routine of almost all wheelchair batteries being dry cell according to multiple operations folks I talked with. There's the issue that clearly nobody is reading the form that they're filling out and signing. It would be helpful if this wasn't done at the gate; but at the ticket counter; recognizing that many if not most of our passengers don't stop at the ticket counter. And; of course; nobody looked at the battery.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A320 Captain reported incorrect HAZMAT battery procedures applied during preflight.

Narrative: As we were getting ready to go; a gate agent arrived in the flight deck with the form for a wheelchair battery; and told us that we had a dry cell battery on board from a passenger's collapsible wheelchair. Also; the passenger would be keeping the battery with him in the cabin 'because that's what he was told on the way to ZZZ from FAR.' Further; it was the passenger that told the gate agents that the battery was a dry cell. As near as I could tell at this point no [Company] employee had looked at the battery to see what kind of battery it was. I should point out that the wheelchair battery form was completely filled out; with each box under 'Dry Cell/Gel Non-Spillable Battery (SSR Code-WCBD)' checked. There was no indication on the bottom of the form where the battery was located; however.This of course didn't sound right; and after consulting the FOM and reading the form; it clearly wasn't. My FO and I agreed that dry cell batteries are always kept in the cargo hold. So; I went out on the jetway and confirmed that yes; we had a collapsible wheelchair. Also; I confirmed with the agent that yes; the passenger had the battery with him in the cabin and that the passenger was the one that identified the battery as a dry cell. But if we have a dry cell; it clearly needs to go in the cargo bin; so I asked the agent to see if we could arrange that.So I went down to operations and the flight planning area to get hold of the dangerous goods hotline and talk with the ops folks to figure out what was going on.The operations person said they had just gotten off the phone with the dangerous goods hotline; who had told them to check what was the manufacturer of the battery to determine where it could be safely kept. This didn't sound right; either (I must have mis-heard this?) so I called the dangerous goods hotline myself. The very helpful person (thank you!) agreed with me that if it was dry cell; it must be kept in the cargo hold. Since the wheelchair was collapsible; it would have to go in a battery box. Clarity was achieved!I got with the ops person; let her know what I had been told - and read the language from the form. She agreed that this made sense; and ops began working on finding a battery box. At this point; I was pretty happy but with all the confusion I made sure that they were NOT to put the battery in the box and cargo hold until I looked at the battery myself. I'm glad I did...Arriving back at the bottom of the jetway stairs; the battery had just made its way out of the cabin and onto the jetway; one of the ramp agents brought it down right as a battery box arrived. Now; I finally got a look at the battery. There are almost no identifying markings; no manufacturer; no type of battery. There is one sticker with some power ratings; and a small sticker with tiny type and safety bullet points. The final bullet point: 'Please use the exclusive Li-ion charger.'OK! Now we know that the folks in FAR did it right - the battery needs to stay in the cabin; and not in the box in the cargo hold. The original form that I was handed - with all of the boxes checked for a dry cell battery - was incorrect and we needed a new form which I requested. Reading from the FOM copy of the form; I talked with our passenger who was on the jetway with us; and verified with him that he would ensure the battery would be below the seat in front of him; and where he was seated. I also verified with the passenger that the two leads coming off the battery would be separated and covered although they're clearly safely covered by the connectors that are used. I also called the dangerous goods hotline again to see if we could figure out if the battery met the maximum 300WH requirement. With the information from the white sticker (24V10aH); the dangerous goods expert did the simple math and verified that this was a 240WH battery - we were good to go. The passenger now returned to his seat; with the battery.A new form was procured; filled out and signed - with all of the dry cell boxes checked. I explained that no; this was a lithium ion battery; and *those* boxes needed to be completed. A third form was requested; it was going to be filled out by the gate agents at the gate podium. So; I went up there to see how that was going. This form was filled out while I was standing there; all of the boxes in the 'Lithium ION Battery (SSR Code-WCLB)' box were checked; and the form was signed by the CSR. Unfortunately; the CSR didn't personally check to see that any of the steps under item 'B' were complete or correct. I reviewed with him and the other two agents there that I had done each of the steps under item 'B.' The remaining item was that the passenger's seat number needed to be filled in - which the agent initially refused to do since that was 'the ramp agent's job.' We got past this; and got the passenger's seat number in the correct place. I took my copy; and we were ready to go.In hindsight; the form was *still* filled out incorrectly. The flight was not going to FAR; but to ZZZ1. All of the boxes in the Lithium ION section were checked; although only the items in section B were required.At the end of the day; we got it done correctly; with a small paperwork error. The causes; from my point of view; are almost all training related compounded by a routine of almost all wheelchair batteries being dry cell according to multiple operations folks I talked with. There's the issue that clearly nobody is reading the form that they're filling out and signing. It would be helpful if this wasn't done at the gate; but at the ticket counter; recognizing that many if not most of our passengers don't stop at the ticket counter. And; of course; nobody looked at the battery.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.