LACKAWANNA COUNTY, Pa. — Jim Schirg has been working with heavy equipment on his farm in West Abington Township near Dalton for more than 50 years.
For him, driving the tractor is just part of his work routine, but anything can happen on the job.
"Accidents happen, no matter what industry we're in there's accidents, we try to be as cautious as we can, tractors are big," said Jim Schirg, owner of Jim's Farm Produce.
Safety is on his mind after two people died in farming accidents over the weekend.
In Columbia County, a 69-year-old man died while trying to load his tractor onto a trailer, and the tractor rolled.
In Northumberland County, a tractor rolled over onto a 16-year-old boy, killing him.
Whether you're the driver or a bystander, Schrig says always be aware of your surroundings.
"Sure, there's people moving around them, sometimes you're backing up like that you gotta be careful, bucket loaders you get them too high, you can tip them over," said Schirg.
Tractors like the ones Schirg uses on his farm can weigh up to 15 tons. If conditions are icy, farmers put chains on tractor tires to push snow.
"If you're loading on a low boy or something, if it's wet or snowy, it's very dangerous. They could slide real easy and fall off," Schirg explained.
Although there haven't been any accidents on his farm, Schrig is familiar with them, "We had one last summer where a farmer not too far from here that got run over by his tractor."
For farmers who are working by themselves in rural areas, Schirg says it's important to have an emergency plan, "Keep yourself in mind how to stop the bleed, things like that, until you can get emergency help to come to get you, there's things you can do for yourself or have somebody get somebody to help you or hope somebody's around if you're cut real bad or something that somebody can stop the bleed."