Two hours. That's how long it took first responders working to free Jill Greninger's body from a meat grinder. It's a story marked beginning to end by hideous details. Greninger's co-workers at the Pennsdale, Pennsylvania, plant discovered her accident after they heard "strange noises" coming from the grinder, the Associated Press  reported on Wednesday. The Lycoming County coroner later  told NBC News that Greninger "tragically either fell or was drawn into the machine resulting in her death." Later, a local news channel  reported that Greninger may have been standing on a set of rolling stairs when she fell. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration, which is responsible for enforcing workplace safety standards, will investigate her death, NBC added. The investigation could take up to six months.

Greninger's death occurs at a desperate moment for OSHA. The federal agency suffers from a severe staffing shortage, which undermines its ability to carry out safety inspections. A new  report from the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health, released the day after Greninger's death, says that OSHA now has only 875 health and safety inspectors to cover the 9 million workplaces in its jurisdiction. Read More...