what is underwriters laboratories 
underwriters laboratories ul is a global safety science company the largest and oldest independent testing laboratory in the united states underwriters laboratories tests the latest products and technologies for safety before they are marketed around the world it tests 22 billion different products annually ranging from consumer electronics alarms and security equipment to lasers medical devices and robotics 12founded in 1894 underwriters laboratories offers its services in five strategic areas from product safety environment life and health university and verification services 3the company employs over 14 000 people who live in 40 countries 4 as of 2021 those employees are led by ceo jennifer scanlon 5 in 2012 underwriters laboratories created a for profit subsidiary ul llc 6understanding underwriters laboratories ul underwriters laboratories is a non profit organization funded by the fees it charges manufacturers of products submitted for certification ul charges fees for the initial evaluation process as well as ongoing maintenance fees for follow up service while ul is a profitable enterprise that profit is filtered back into the business as profit is not a stated goal of the company 7ul s operations are global in scope with customers in more than 143 countries 8 twenty two billion ul marks appear annually on products while 8 5 million consumers in asia europe and north america are annually reached by ul with safety messages 19the start of underwriters laboratories can be traced back to the widely attended world s fair held in chicago in 1890 at the fair ul s founder william henry merrill jr a graduate of the mit electrical engineering program was working at his assigned post with the boston board of fire underwriters to assess for any fire risks with all of the new construction going on for the fairgrounds 10at the fair merrill jr meets many insurance underwriters and proposes his idea to create an electrical testing laboratory the underwriters agree that it is a good idea and both western insurance union and the chicago underwriters association give merrill jr funding to form what will soon become the underwriters electrical bureau 10eventually that first bureau became the electrical bureau of the national board of fire underwriters it set its mission even back then on promoting safe working and living conditions for people in 1895 the organization hired its first employees 10the bureau was officially operating with three staff members and a budget of 3 000 annually in 1901 the organization officially became underwriters laboratories and established headquarters in illinois 10founder merrill jr became the manager of ul and a new president henry clay eddy was named in 1903 the ul began establishing its first set of safety standards beginning with tin clad fire doors 10