As large-scale lithium-ion battery based energy storage systems (BESS) are gaining more and more momentum in today's energy systems for various applications like grid support, congestion relief and energy trading , the topic of their safety and safe operation is becoming more and more a topic to address as well. Several serious incidents over the past few years happened in Korea, USA, China and Europe have shown the challenges that this young and strongly- growing industry has to face. Therefore the goal of this presentation is to review industry requirements related to the safety of large-scale lithium-ion BESS, also by looking at failure processes and analysis from actual incidents. Within a following discussion, the aim is to outline possible mitigation actions that can be taken in the design or development phase of a system to effectively minimize today ́s and future risks of this energy asset class.