While extreme storms like tornadoes and hurricanes get most of the media attention, a far simpler weather condition – heat -- is much deadlier. Heat kills an average of 658 people every year -- more than tornadoes, hurricanes, floods, and lightning combined. In the disastrous heat wave of 1980, more than 1,250 people died. In the heat wave of 1995 more than 700 deaths in the Chicago area were attributed to heat. In August 2003, a record heat wave in Europe claimed an estimated 50,000 lives.

The U.S. Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is offering an app for iPhones and iPod Touches that will provide real-time safety information about vehicles, notify consumers about recalls and even help them install child seats.

OSHA has cited Austin Powder Co. with 51 health and safety violations carrying proposed fines of $258,000 for multiple violations of OSHA's standards for process safety management at facilities that use highly hazardous chemicals.

The Boston-based Lucky Star bus company ran out of luck last week when it was given an “imminent hazard out-of-service order” by the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT). The feds say any further movement of Lucky Star’s vehicles must be accomplished by towing.

The Mississippi Supreme Court last week upheld a Forrest County law requiring fencing, gates and warning signs at oil and gas sites – an ordinance passed after a 2009 accident that killed two teenagers.

While big rigs would seem to be more dangerous to passenger cars in roadway accidents, single-unit trucks actually cause a disproportionate number of passenger vehicle fatalities, according to a new report from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).

Each year, 2000 workers are admitted to burn centers for extended injury treatment caused by arc flash. Arc flash is an electric current that is passed through the air when insulation or isolation between electrified conductors is not sufficient to withstand the applied voltage. The flash is immediate, but the results can cause severe injury.

Fall protection, head protection and a truly portable LED lighting system are this week’s top products as featured on ISHN.com:

A new killer virus, Chinese poultry plant workers die in a fire and a final rule for workplace wellness programs are among this week’s EHS-related stories as featured on ISHN.com:

Natural disasters are the top safety concern among office employees, yet the majority of businesses (60 percent) polled in a survey said recent disasters -- including Hurricane Sandy -- haven’t led them to reassess their safety plans.