UL (safety organization)
| Formerly | Underwriters Laboratories, UL LLC |
|---|---|
| Company type | Public |
| NYSE: ULS | |
| Founded | 1894 |
| Founder | William Henry Merrill |
| Headquarters | , U.S. |
Area served | 125 countries |
Key people | Jennifer Scanlon (President and CEO) |
| Revenue | US$2.68 billion (2023) |
| US$276 million (2023) | |
Number of employees | 15,000+ (2024) |
| Parent | Underwriters Laboratories Inc. (non-profit) |
| Subsidiaries | Futuremark |
| Website | www |
The UL enterprise is a global private safety company headquartered in Northbrook, Illinois, composed of three organizations, UL Research Institutes, UL Standards & Engagement and UL Solutions.
Established in 1894, the UL enterprise was founded as the Underwriters' Electrical Bureau (a bureau of the National Board of Fire Underwriters), and was known throughout the 20th century as Underwriters Laboratories. On January 1, 2012, Underwriters Laboratories became the parent company of a for-profit company in the U.S. named UL LLC, a limited liability company, which took over the product testing and certification business. On June 26, 2022, the companies rebranded into three distinct organizations that make up the UL enterprise.
The company is one of several companies approved to perform safety testing by the U.S. federal agency Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). OSHA maintains a list of approved testing laboratories, which are known as Nationally Recognized Testing Laboratories. According to Lifehacker, UL Solutions is the best-known product safety and certification organization globally.