Recent technical glitches at Facebook have exposed the private lives of millions of users. Although U.S. senators and privacy groups have filed complaints with the FTC against Facebook, it appears there may be no limit to the number of features Facebook launches each month, frequently provoking concerns about privacy. (5/19) Wall Street Journal. Note that corporations and individuals, such as insurance companies and investigators, may gain access to your personal information on social networking sites and view or gather your information, photos and the like. If you are involved or later become involved in litigation, your case may be negatively affected.  To insure your privacy, take care in what information you place on the net. At some time in the future, the whole planet may have access to your personal information.

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, every year tens of thousands of Americans die  from workplace diseases, and more than 4.6 million workers are seriously injured on the job. OSHA has beefed up penalties and enforcement aimed at recalcitrant employers who underfund safety programs to reduce their costs, thus putting workers at greater risk for injury or death in the workplace.  (4/22) U.S. Dept. of Labor

Mine company operators are avoiding more stringent enforcement of safety and health related measures by vigorously challenging citations in a federal appeals court process. Currently, 32 mine have contested 46,822 violations, which could mean as much as $93 million in fines for mine operators. Massey Energy, the operator of the mine in West Virginia where 25 miners were killed last week, has been cited for violations at a rate 11 times above the national average for mines. Yet the mine continues to operate as the logjam in the appeals process delays resolution: penalties cannot be imposed while health and safety issues continue to mount. (4/10) Washington Post

Independent medical exams conducted as part of New York’s workers’ compensation system routinely favor the position of insurers, regardless of a worker’s actual injuries.  A review of case files and interviews revealed that the largely unregulated doctors who conduct the examinations routinely tilt their reports to benefit insurers by minimizing or dismissing bona fide injuries in order to get paid by insurance companies. Said one doctor, “You have to give them what they want, or you’re in Florida. That’s the game, baby.” N.R. Kleinfield, The New York Times 03/31/2009
Read Article: The New York Times

The nation’s most extensive mine collapse in the last half-century was caused by a toxic combination of risky mine planning and lax regulatory oversight, the Department of Labor has determined. Still, the families of workers who died in the Crandall Canyon mine collapse and subsequent rescue efforts feel that they have been failed by the mining company and the government. Paul Foy, Newsday 08/06/2008