The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. These stories are searchable online or by contacting the Resource Center directly (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org) where a researcher can help you pinpoint what you need. Browse or search the tipsheet section of our library below. Stories are not available for download but can be easily ordered by contacting the Resource Center:
Search results for "National Safety Commission" ...
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"Crib Recall"
A child is supposed to be safe in his or her own crib; however, cribs with drop down sides proved to be dangerous, even life-threatening to children. In 2009, CBS correspondent Susan Koeppen revealed the nation's largest crib recall ever recorded. It involved two million cribs. In the past two years, the "government has recalled nearly 5 million cribs."
Tags: Consumer Product Safety Commission; Stork Craft; drop down side crib
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Who's in the Driver's Seat at Motor Vehicles
The online traffic school, lowestpricetrafficschool.com, had exclusive advertisement in Florida's Official Driver's Handbook through the Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles department. The traffic school was also in charge of printing the booklet, offering it free on line but charging taxpayers for shipping. WTVT found that Fred Dickinson's, the executive director of the DHSMV, wife was a lobbyist for the National Safety Commission which operates the traffic school. She later resigned her position when Gov. Jeb Bush criticized the Dickinsons for the conflict of interest.
Tags: motor vehicles; conflict of interest; state government; National Safety Commission; Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles; traffic schools; lobbying; Fred Dickinson; Sherry Dickinson; driver's handbook
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Toxic Trinkets
After national coverage of toy recalls in the United States, KVOA wanted to localize the story. Using an X-ray gun to examine toys, they found some with lead content over 600 parts per million. They then took all the toys back and did lab testing. "By using lab testing, the entire toy's paint is scraped off and dissolved in acid- then an overall reading is obtained." This resulted in some toys having different lead levels. They found that for some toys, certain parts had over the 600 ppm, but overall the toy was under the amount.
Tags: consumer reports; consumer safety; toy recall; lead content; health; children; lab testing; testing; Consumer Product Safety Commission; Gabrielle Giffords
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Aging Airtankers
"An Associated Press investigation of the nation's aerial firefighting program found that many of the aging planes should never have been flying in the first place. It found a spotty safety record by a contractor who had the wings snap off two airtankers in mid-flight last summer, and that no single registry or agency keeps track of accidents involving so-called public service aircraft. The series traced the use of the airtankers to an apparently illegal transfer of military aircraft, showing that the investigation of one of last summer's crashes was hampered because the plane once was used to fly spy missions for the CIA. It found that there is poor financing and supervision of the crucial program, findings echoed in a report by a special government commission."
Tags: airtanker; airplanes; safety; record; transportation; CIA; spy; accidents; government oversight; crash
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New Nightmare Scenarios
National Journal examines the nuclear industry's vulnerability to terrorism. The report quotes nuclear power's critics who say that "a terrorist attack on the one of the nation's 103 commercial reactors might trigger a meltdown within minutes." However, industry officials call such fears exaggerated. The story predicts that the increasing demand for electricity and the good safety record of the nuclear industry will bring need for new nuclear plants after the immediate threat of terrorist strikes has eased.
Tags: Nuclear Regulatory Commission; FBI; Three Mile Island; Chernobyl; radiation; radioactive contamination; Ukraine; Nuclear Control Institute; terrorism; security; safety; environment; Federal Emergency Management Agency; global warming
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Product Recalls: A Defective Process
A Sun-Sentinel investigation of "the nation's product recall system and the US Consumer Product Safety Commission" revealed that "vital information about dangerous products is kept from consumers because of federal secrecy laws" and dangerous products are left on the market even after the government discovers they have injured Americans.
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Hydro's Silence on Safety; Thinking the Unthinkable
After a violent storm exposed potentially life-threatening flaws in the world's biggest dam complex in Canada's Far North, this two-year investigation reveals the dam's Quebec-based owner concealed the damage when spending $100 million to quietly repair it. Neglect of the dam, which supplies up to 25% of New York and New England's electricity, resulted in severe losses from the 1998 storm.
Tags: Hydro-Quebec; Access to Information Commission; Tennessee Valley Authority; New York Power Authority; British Columbia Hydro; high-voltage; Cree Nation; Inuit
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Worry About Your Wireless?
ABC News 20/20 reports that "For years, executives of the $200 billion cellular phone industry have assured the millions who use their products that cell phones - and the microwave energy they emit - are completely safe and pose no health risk whatsoever. But a four-month ABC News 20/20 investigation uncovered startling new scientific evidence that directly challenged this presumption and revealed that some of the nation's most commonly used cell phones actually exceed the maximum radiation safety levels established by the federal government."
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Deadly Silence: The government's betrayal of A-bomb pioneers
The Daily Southtown reports that "During World War II, hundreds of scientists, tradesmen and secretaries at the Manhattan Project metallurgical lab at the University of Chicago were carelessly exposed to large quantities of toxic metal beryllium, then for 45 years intentionally kept in the dark about the potentially deadly health consequences... For decades the federal government joined with university officials to fight workers' compensation claims filed by those dying of beryllium disease. Then, facing a 1986 expose by a Los Angeles TV station, Energy Department officials promised on-camera to provide testing and treatment for Manhattan Project workers. But testing and treatment was never provided, based on interviews with Manhattan Project survivors located by the Daily Southtown."