Abstract: A method for increasing fail-safe operation of an industrial input/output assembly, wherein an external mechanical load that acts on the input/output assembly is determined via an acceleration sensor, where a check is performed to determine whether the load exceeds a predeterminable limit value and, if this is the case, a value of a load sum is then accordingly increased corresponding to an extent to which the value is exceeded, where the load sum is continuously compared to a maximum load value that characterizes a service life of the input/output assembly, and a maintenance message is output when the maximum load value is reached.