Our Culture and Values
An inclusive world is a safer world. Learn how we champion for equal opportunity to extend safety to as many people as possible.
Safety Science & Our Commitment to Inclusivity
Safety, Amplified by Inclusivity and Accessibility
Learn about the culture and values at UL Standards & Engagement.
Workplace
We are committed to creating a culture where every employee feels valued for who they are and what they bring to our mission of working for a safer, more secure, and sustainable world.
By promoting an open and inclusive approach to communication, collaboration, and decision-making, we invite our colleagues to imagine boldly and expand their perspectives.
Our actions help our colleagues feel connected to our purpose and to each other. In turn, they bring their talents, experiences, and unique ideas to advance safety science in the 21st century.
Standards & Engagement
We all deserve to feel safe, respected, and included. We modernized our standards development process to reach more people with greater impact. Our process aims to bring fresh and diverse voices to our technical committees, including more international participants. This initiative has made safety more inclusive, emboldening our pursuit of a safer, more sustainable world.
ULSE is also committed to raising awareness about the importance of accessibility in standards, conducting focus groups with people with disabilities to address safety needs, and partnering with other organizations to collaborate on accessibility in standards development.
Hear from Current Team Members
“Standards – without having women at the table – may not address all of the safety needs that need to be considered. Bulletproof vests, as an example, if you think about a woman’s shape, and if you have a bulletproof vest that protects one part of her body, it may leave a gap where a bullet could get in – and that’s something that needs to be considered.”
Sonya Bird
Vice President of International Standards,
UL Standards & Engagement
Hear from Current Team Members
“True safety is inclusive. Language plays a key role in shaping cultural and social behavior, and we want to ensure that the words we use serve to empower greater safety and are consistent with our commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.”
Caroline Treuthardt
Senior Standards Project Manager
UL Standards & Engagement
Hear from Current Team Members
“I’ll give one example, a standard for PV hazard control, which addresses firefighters that might be dealing with the fire, with the photovoltaics. And we managed to get data about how men and women react to occurrence differently. And as a result, when we published that standard, we actually had a lower threshold of shock in there than if we had only considered data for men. And to me, that’s a big success”
Dr. Denice Durrant
Director of Engineering and Data Science,
UL Standards & Engagement
Equal Opportunity in Action
Inclusive safety is shaped by the diverse needs and perspectives of the people it serves. Learn how our commitment to diversity, accessibility, and inclusion drives innovation in safety standards. From updating language to promote inclusivity, advancing gender-responsive practices, promoting women in STEM, we’re building a foundation for safer, more equitable outcomes for all.
Language plays a key role in shaping cultural and social behavior, and we want to ensure that the words we use serve to empower greater safety and are consistent with our commitment to diversity, accessibility, and inclusion. Learn about our work to update our library of 1,700 standards and documents for inclusive language by 2030. Our extensive review will seek to remove references and key terms that are antiquated or exclusionary.
In August 2022, UL Standards & Engagement signed the Declaration for Gender-Responsive Standards and Standards Development from the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe. By signing the declaration, ULSE made a commitment to developing gender-responsive standards and achieving greater gender balance, representation, and inclusion in its standards development process.
True safety is inclusive, requiring diverse perspectives to assess risks. Growing the number of women in STEM fields increases the potential number of women in standards, having a direct and critical impact on safety. Listen to insights from ULSE experts from the Growing Women in Stem panel discussion from CES 2024.
Explore Inclusive Resources & Initiatives
The UL Standards & Engagement Gender Action Plan
Making the World More Accessible Through Standards
When Gender is Considered in Standards Development, More People Are Protected
