Pennsylvania Woman Dies After Falling Into Meat Grinder, Say Reports

Jill Greninger, 35, fell into the machinery at Economy Locker Storage Company in Lycoming County, Pennsylvania (Google Maps)

A Pennsylvania woman died after falling into a commercial meat grinder at her workplace, according to reports on April 24.

Jill Greninger, 35, fell into the machinery at Economy Locker Storage Company in Lycoming County, Pennsylvania, reported WNEP. She fell in at around 11:30 a.m. on April 22.

Lycoming County Coroner Charles E. Kiessling Jr. confirmed her death, saying it’s “just a tragedy.”

“We talked to the person who found her. He said he heard a noise and went to check on her and found her in the machine. He put the power down and called 911,” he told ABC News.

Kiessling said that Greninger may have been standing on wheeled stairs before the incident.

It’s not clear if there were any other witnesses or how she may have fallen into the machine.

“I don’t know if she got caught with the moving parts and they pulled her in, or if she just slipped and fell,” ABC quoted Kiessling as saying. “I don’t know and there’s no way of determining that.”

The Economy Locker Storage Company has a processing plant and has been in business since the early 1900s, WNEP noted.

According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), Greninger’s death is the first at the facility. OSHA investigators are now investigating, WNEP reported.

According to the Williamsport Sun-Gazette, Kiessling added that “we don’t know if she fell in or was pulled in as she was perhaps reaching for something in the grinder.”

The paper reported that firefighters responded to the incident, but she was already dead. Firefighters spent about 45 minutes disassembling the machine.

Neighbors said they were stunned about the death and wondered how such an accident could have happened.

“My heart goes out to everyone who is affected by this. Everyone is shaken and thinks that this is a tragedy that something like this had to happen to such a young lady,” said a neighbor to the local station.

According to a 2019 study, the most dangerous job in the United States was commercial fishing

“Fishers and related fishing workers had the highest rates of fatal injury in 2017. Commercial fishing is largely physical work that involves fishing nets, gear and slippery decks. Fishers and related fishing workers can also be exposed to challenging environmental factors, such as extreme weather. In addition, workers may be out on the water or working from a remote area when an accident occurs, and easy access to a hospital or medical professional may not be readily available. The majority of fatalities among fishers and related fishing workers are due to drowning,” says 24WallSt, which conducted the study.

No. 2 in the study was logging, as it is physically demanding and often requires workers to stay in remote areas. Most loggers die from being struck by an object or experience a mishap with dangerous machinery.

Aircraft pilots and flight engineers were No. 3 on the list. No. 4 is roofing, and falls, slips, and trips were the most common cause of death, according to the study.

Garbage and recycling collectors had the fifth-highest chance of death, according to the study, as “these workers undergo numerous injuries caused by transportation incidents, including automobile accidents, each year” and “are also often exposed to contaminants such as pollutants, which can result in illness.”

Recent Workplace Deaths

According to OSHA’s most recent statistics, about 5,147 workers died on the job in 2017, which is, on average, more than 99 a week or more than 14 deaths per day.

“Fatal falls were at their highest level in the 26-year history of the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI) accounting for 887 (17 percent) worker deaths,” said the Bureau of Labor Statistics. “Transportation incidents remained the most frequent fatal event in 2017 with 2,077 (40 percent) occupational fatalities.”

It adds: “Unintentional overdoses due to nonmedical use of drugs or alcohol while at work increased 25 percent from 217 in 2016 to 272 in 2017. This was the fifth consecutive year in which unintentional workplace overdose deaths have increased by at least 25 percent.”

Meanwhile, according to the agency, “Contact with objects and equipment incidents were down 9 percent (695 in 2017 from 761 in 2016) with caught in running equipment or machinery deaths down 26 percent (76 in 2017 from 103 in 2016).