Oliver Sträter has been Professor of Work and Organizational Psychology at the University of Kassel since 2008. He received his PhD and habilitation from the Technical University of Munich in the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering. He obtained his diploma from RWTH Aachen University as a work and organizational psychologist.

His work focuses on the analysis and assessment of physical and psychological stress, the robust design of organizations, healthy leadership, and reliability, resilience, and safety.
Before accepting the professorship, he was responsible for the analysis and evaluation of human reliability in nuclear facilities and for safety issues relating to the unification of European airspace and the impact of digitalization on air traffic controllers at the European Aviation Safety Agency in Brussels.

He heads the VDI Technical Committee on Human Reliability and Safety, which has published the VDI 4006 series of guidelines on the evaluation of systems and the analysis of incidents involving human behavior.

Abstract Keynote: Optimizing Agricultural Technology Through Consideration of Human Reliability

Agricultural technology, more than any other field, is characterized by a close interrelationship between technical systems and human performance. This applies to simple handheld devices up to complex harvesting machines with a high degree of automation. Therefore, it is an obvious need to systematically integrate the "human factor" into the design of systems and processes. Considering methods of human reliability allows for optimization of technical solutions or work processes and prevention of hazards or accidents. The presentation addresses the various challenges in agricultural technology and explains how methods of human reliability can be used to identify hazards and make systems safer. The presentation examines agricultural technology ranging from simple handheld systems to complex autonomous systems.

For handheld systems, the CeyeBERMAN measurement system can record and evaluate physical stress. The system is based on motion capturing and can record and evaluate unhealthy body postures. Building on this, the presentation addresses the evaluation of more complex systems. For such systems, task-oriented and goal-oriented aspects of human reliability must be considered. Task-oriented methods evaluate "work as planned," whereas goal-oriented methods evaluate "work as done." Examples illustrate the difference and its importance for the design of agricultural technology or mitigation measures against risks.

Systems of highest complexity are characterized by assistance- or autonomous-technology. From a human perspective, such systems are characterized by issues of human-automation interaction. This refers to the fact that the reliability of the overall system is determined by the interplay of technical and human reliability. Critical incidents invariably demonstrate that these interactions are often not considered in system design. For example, statistically, Tesla is the deadliest car brand, even though the vehicles are technically sophisticated and equipped with numerous safety features. The interactions between automation and humans are demonstrated using examples from agricultural technology and then examined from a reliability perspective.