This month, UL Standards & Engagement announced its commitment to incorporate inclusive language for more than 1,700 of its standards and documents by the year 2030. The goal is to ensure that language does not discriminate against groups of people or perpetuate stereotypes.

“True safety is inclusive,” said Caroline Treuthardt, senior standards project manager at UL Standards & Engagement, who spearheads the initiative. “Language plays a key role in shaping cultural and social behavior, and we want to ensure that the words we use serve to empower greater safety and are consistent with our commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.”

As part of the change and review, the organization also announced that it will be updating its internal processes to “ensure inclusive language is consistently used in the standards development process and in all new standards.”

“Our objective is to be a leader among global standards development organizations at describing products and situations accurately, not in ways that are unintentionally exclusionary," noted Treuthardt. “We want to ensure our standards have impact and possess strong technical rigor, while ensuring there are no real or perceived barriers to participation in developing these standards.”

Access more details in the press release on ULSE.org.