How the Science of Safety Helps Tackle Global Risks [Sponsored]

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Scientific American

Science

4.3 • 1.4K Ratings

🗓️ 8 April 2025

⏱️ 16 minutes

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Summary

We're surrounded by risks of all sizes, every day. Some people might be risk-takers, while others do whatever they can to avoid them. But how can we tackle the risks that impact society on a global scale, like those linked to sustainable energy, societal health and digital technology? Science journalist Izzie Clarke explores this question in the latest podcast from Scientific American Custom Media. She sat down with Chris Cramer, chief research officer and interim president for the leading safety science organization UL Research Institutes. This podcast was produced for UL Research Institutes by Scientific American Custom Media, a division separate from the magazine’s board of editors. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello and welcome to this Scientific American Custom Media podcast.
0:08.6	I'm science journalist Izzy Clark and in this episode we're exploring safety science.
0:17.0	Imagine going about your day and the risks you'd encounter without safety measurements.
0:21.6	Crossing a road would be a nightmare if traffic lights didn't exist.
0:26.6	Eating would be left to a game of chance without food standards in place.
0:31.6	And don't even think about the chaos of a lab without protective equipment and procedures. But in a busy world
0:40.5	with increasing risks around energy, public health and technology, what can be done to engineer a safer
0:47.7	world? Thankfully, that's what a leading safety science organisation is currently addressing.
0:54.3	UL Research Institutes takes a multidisciplinary approach to identify risks to humanity and our planet
1:01.4	and counter them with science-based research designed to benefit people everywhere.
1:07.5	I spoke with Chris Kramer, chief research officer and interim president for UL Research
1:13.1	Institutes about the biggest safety challenges of today and what sets the organization apart from others.
1:23.3	UL Research Institutes is one of three organizations that all trace their heritage back 130 years now to the initial founding of Underwriters' Laboratories.
1:36.4	And Underwriters' Laboratories throughout its history has endeavored to make the world a safer place.
1:41.7	And U.L. Research Institutes addresses that challenge by doing basic and applied research in order to tackle what we think of as the most pressing challenges in what we call safety science.
1:54.0	When we think about areas that we want to tackle, we ask ourselves three questions.
2:00.0	First, is it important, right? Is the risk a
2:02.4	salient one? Does it affect a lot of people? Second, is there white space? Obviously, if a lot of
2:08.6	other organizations are already addressing that, and I think of sort of classical health risks,
2:13.9	you know, cancer, diabetes, biomedical space, a lot of investment against those where
2:20.1	it's not that we would necessarily bring anything new or revolutionary to the table.
2:24.6	But there are a number of areas where there is a dearth of attention, if you like.
	...

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