Around 100 Years Testing and Certification – this is DGUV Test

About 100 years ago, the German Social Accident Insurance first saw testing and certification as an important component for safety and health at work.

This is what DGUV Test still stands for today. Through testing and certification, DGUV Test ensures safety and health protection at work. The competence network for a safe and healthy working environment combines science, requirements and practice for innovative developments.


PREVENTION: RIGHT FROM THE START

Testing and certification, carried out by DGUV Test, ...

  • is one of the ten pillars of the prevention work of the statutory accident insurance. Prevention is the primary objective.
  • offers the customer legal security.
  • avoids human suffering and costs through prevention.

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Source: Industrieblick / Fotolia.com

COMPETENCE: GROWING WITH EVERY YEAR OF EXPERIENCE

The testing and certification system DGUV Test ...

  • acts as an intermediary between the theoretical safety and health requirements and daily work routine. DGUV Test knows the practice in the companies, the accident occurrences and the knowledge from professional circles and research.
  • has earned a reputation as a reliable partner through competent work.
  • confirms its competence by accreditation and notification
  • offers a high level of expertise, also in niche topics.

INNOVATION: AN IMPORTANT AREA FOR THE FUTURE

The testing and certification system DGUV Test ...

  • accompanies innovative changes in the world of work through development-related tests
  • Develops new test procedures, which are reflected in new test principles.
  • sets standards in the design of a safe and healthy working environment
  • focuses on innovative developments.

DGUV Test: EFFICIENTLY POSITIONED

The DGUV Test testing and certification system ...

  • brings together the 13 testing and certification bodies. This bundling benefits our customers: Efficient services for the benefit of safety and health at work can be guaranteed.
  • is an institution of the
  • German Statutory Accident Insurance (DGUV).

Three examples of the success of DGUV Test in prevention:

  • 1. Lifesaving assistant for safe reversing

    Reversing, including maneuvering for short distances in commercial vehicles, is often dangerous due to the size of the vehicle and the drivers visibility. Accidents with material damage or serious personal injuries occur time and again. Technical facilities for improving visibility and for automated monitoring of the rear route are intended to support drivers when reversing, protect people and pedestrians in the danger area and avoid accidents caused by collisions.

    Due to the great importance of reversing assistants for the safety and health of people, the Testing and Certification Body for Traffic and Environment of the DGUV Test has developed test principles in cooperation with the Testing and Certification Body of the Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. The principles summarize the current state of the art and place requirements on the functional performance and reliability of reversing assistance systems. Products that meet these requirements offer greater security.

  • 2. Making technology secure and preventing attacks

    In order for components of protective devices on machines and systems (e.g. light grids, laser scanners, safety programs on electronic controls) to function safely and reliably, their safety-relevant data and functions must be protected from unauthorized access. This topic is at the center of the "Security" test principles of DGUV Test.

    Attacks on standardized hardware and software components can trigger threats. The effects of attacks are diverse and in the simplest case lead to the machine or production plant being switched off and thus to financial damage to the person operating it. They pose dangers for the employees: It is conceivable that attacks on components of functional safety are carried out and that safety parameters are specifically changed or overridden.

    For safety and health at work, it is crucial to have preventive influence on the security of machines and components through testing and certification. For this reason, DGUV Test has developed test principles that enable the testing and certification of the security of components of industrial automation systems. A certificate awarded by DGUV Test entitles the holder to affix a DGUV Test mark “Security tested” with the suffix “industrial security tested”.

  • 3. Safety on the construction site

    Over 80 accidents were registered with quick-change devices on excavators in the last 10 years, most of them serious, nine fatal - a considerable burden for the families, work teams and insurers concerned. An investigation showed that attachments (e.g. loading and digging tools) were often not secured correctly due to time constraints - the attachments came loose and fell onto construction workers. The applicable safety requirements are therefore not to be assessed as sufficient from the point of view of safety and health.

    DGUV Test therefore set new test requirements for quick-change devices in 2020. In order to receive a certificate from the DGUV Test Testing and Certification Body BAU, in addition at least one of the safety requirements listed in the GS-BAU-25 test principles must be fulfilled. For example, the excavator can be retrofitted in such a way that it is technically only possible to lift an attachment if it has been locked correctly. Or there must be an acoustic warning signal if the locking has not been fully implemented. With such additional securing, comparable accidents are very likely to happen less frequently.

Contact

Secretariat DGUV Test
Alte Heerstraße 111
53757 Sankt Augustin
Tel: +49 30 13001-4566
Fax: +49 30 13001-864566