For more than a century, Underwriters Laboratories has advanced Fire Safety with the goals of helping to prevent fires, injury and loss of life, and minimize property damage. Advances in materials, design and construction techniques offer new benefits but also present new challenges and risks, making fire more dangerous today than in the past. From detection and reaction to containment, suppression and prevention, Fire Safety represents an increasingly complex ecosystem. UL works with manufacturers, authorities, built environment professionals and the firefighter community to stay at the forefront, creating New Science to shape the future of Fire Safety.
Inside Journal 1
In their Fire Safety Journal series you can learn more about the impact that new materials, construction techniqes and emerging technologies have on Fire Safety today.
PV Panels
UL researchers have led the discovery around fire risks associated with PV panels, developing a standard for arc fault protection for PV systems and being among the first to specifically address fire service operational hazards.
Redefining Smoke
UL scientists have identified the composition of today’s smoke and its higher levels of toxicity. UL is working to understand the long-term health risks to firefighters from exposure to smoke particles in modern home and office fires.
Lithium-Ion Batteries
UL scientists and researchers are helping define and develop safety tests that assess the propensity of a battery to experience a short circuit under certain abuse conditions.
Modern Residential Fires
UL determined that fires today are more dangerous and pose more risks than in the past. Fire propagation is faster, and time to flashover, escape times and collapse times are all shorter.
A PDF version of UL’s New Science Fire Safety Journal is available at http://www.ul.com/global/eng/pages/newscience/firesafety/. Once on the site select Issue 1 and enter your e-mail address to download your copy.
