The invention relates to a method for monitoring the wear of a pair of hand pliers with which crimping elements can be pressed onto a workpiece and a particular degree of crimping mp, to be obtained by actuating the pliers, set using a presetting device. An arrangement is described for carrying out this method, as is a pair of hand pliers implementing the method. The method includes: counting each actuation of the hand pliers and linking to the degree of crimping mp that has been set; reading out a wear prognosis value Vt, from a memory, for the degree of crimping that has been set; determining a total wear value V by adding up the wear prognosis value Vt for each actuation; verifying whether the total wear value reaches or exceeds a defined threshold value VG, and issuing a calibration request if necessary.