Keep Your Home and Family Safe This Winter: Just Look for UL

Underwriters Laboratories (UL) is a non-profit, privately owned and operated product safety testing and certification organization based in the United States. UL has developed standards and test procedures for products, materials, components, assemblies, tools and equipment that deal with product safety. Through its management system registration programs, UL evaluated and certifies the efficiency of a company's business processes. Also, through its drinking water laboratory, UL analyzes drinking and other clean water samples. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), a U.S. federal agency, maintains a list of approved testing laboratories known as Nationally Recognized Testing Laboratories and UL is one of several companies recognized.

UL evaluates products for compliance to specific requirements and permits the acceptable products to carry a UL certification mark, as long as they remain compliant with the standards. This year, UL is on a mission to help educate consumers about keeping their homes and families safe. Keri Russell, a television and film actress who gained fame portraying the title role on the series Felicity and a new mom has partnered with UL to launch a safety movement called Just Look for UL. This long term campaign is designed to teach consumers some easy steps to take on the path to a safe home. One of those steps is to simply look for the UL mark, which means that a product has been evaluated by the world's most trusted independent test laboratory.

For Just Look for UL, a new website was launched that features home safety tips, a safety quiz, and more information about the safety campaign. Also, a holiday public service announcement (PSA) featuring Keri Russell began airing nationally on December 3, 2008. UL acknowledges the joy that the holiday season brings, but also warns that the increase of home cooking and the use of decorations and lights can also bring a risk of home fires. The U.S. Fire Administration agrees, offering that almost 47,000 fires occur nationally each year during the holidays, claiming more than 500 lives, causing more than 2,200 injuries and costing $554 million in property damage.

Just Look for UL is providing these tips to help keep your home safe:

-Turn off all electrical lights, decorations and space heaters before leaving home or going to bed.

-Practice a fire escape plan with your loved ones. Each family member should know at least two ways to exit each room in the home.

-Do not connect more than three miniature light strings together. Light strings with larger, screw-in bulbs should have no more than 50 bulbs connected.

-Inspect all decorations before use. Cracked sockets, frayed or bare wires and loose connections may pose fire or shock hazards.

-Your Christmas tree should be positioned at lease three feet away from fireplaces, radiators and other heat sources. The tree shouldn't block any doorway or exit route.

-Make sure all of your electrical products carry the UL certification mark, like the NewAir AH-450 Oil Filled Electric Radiator Space Heater.

-Do not run electrical cords underneath carpets, rugs or heavy items. Don't bunch them up behind a hot appliance or radiator either as doing this can cause damage or overheating and create a fire hazard.

-During an electrical storm, stay away from corded telephones, plumbing, electrical appliances, wires, TV cables and metal doors and window frames.

-Remove all medications and medical supplies from purses, pockets and drawers and put in a cabinet with a child safety lock.

-Test your smoke and carbon monoxide (CO) alarms every month. Replace the batteries when the clocks are reset to daylight saving time. Smoke alarms should be replaced every ten years and CO alarms should be replaced every five to seven years. And of course, make sure all alarms are UL listed.