The invention refers to a method for monitoring a communication media access schedule of a communication controller (5) of a communication system (1) by means of a bus guardian (6). The communication system (1) comprises a communication media (2) and nodes (3) connected to the communication media (2). Each node (3) comprises a communication controller (5) and a bus guardian (6) assigned to the communication controller (5). Messages are transmitted among the nodes (3) across the communication media (2) based on a cyclic time triggered communication media access scheme. In order to provide a mechanism which allows the bus guardian (6) to monitor the communication media access scheme of the communication controller (5) even during startup of the communication it is suggested, that the bus guardian (6) has a priori knowledge about possible deviations from the communication media access schedule during startup of the communication and that the bus guardian (6) during startup makes use of the a priori knowledge to distinguish between an allowed deviation and a forbidden deviation caused by a failure of the communication controller (5).