At UL Standards & Engagement, we believe that safety is key to making the holidays special. Our mission of working for a safer world doesn’t stop when the holidays start. It becomes even more important.
During the holidays, we change the way our houses are decorated, we cook more elaborate meals, we travel away from home, and we shop for items we don’t regularly purchase. These behavioral changes during the holidays can elevate safety risks — risks that are responsible for more fires and trips to the ER than other times of year. Our 2024 study showed some holiday safety misunderstandings that could make days less merry and bright, but there are reasonable steps to mitigate those risks and ensure your holidays are spent gathered around the tree — not in the hospital waiting room.
This guide is designed to help you make smart decisions to reduce the risk when cooking, gifting, decorating, and traveling this season. From the standards that protect your products, to the safety tips that will help you avoid injury, we are leveraging more than a century of safety expertise to make the holiday season one to remember — for all the right reasons.