Safety of Machinery – Proposal for a Comparative Method for Statistical Tools with Examples

In the Research Institute of the German Machine Tool Builders' Association (VDW), a joint discourse on statistics in machine safety took place 2022. The aim of the discourse was to define a practical basis through which a standardized application of the most important basic statistical methods and a uniform presentation of the results would be made possible.

"Uniform" because at any given time there was a whole range of research projects in the VDW Research Institute using a variety of statistical methods to evaluate their results. Crucial to the discourse was that a broad base of scientific expertise in the VDW environment was available from the outset. Likewise, results from these projects could be used as examples that represented tangible problems for the company representatives of the participating companies.

In the discourse on statistics the need for action in machine safety was identified because statistical evaluations are an essential basis for argumentation in this field. However, those responsible for machine safety practitioners in the member companies of the VDW are faced with the challenge of evaluating complex statistical issues in the context of their daily work.

With a statistical toolbox it is intended to define a practical basis by which a standardized application of the most important basic statistical methods and a uniform presentation of the results are made possible, to create a recognition value for the industry representatives in particular.

Keywords: Safety of machinery, Descriptive statistics, Inference statistics.

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