Mr Müller, Doepke has been producing residual current circuit-breakers for more than 60 years. Why the focus on these products?
Andreas Müller: The company’s founding fathers, Engels and Doepke, made it their mission in 1956 “to protect people and animals from dangerously high shock currents”. We are still sticking to this motto today. We want to protect lives as much as we can at all times by making electrical energy safe to use. That’s why we have so many different product types in our range – we want to offer the right RCCB for every application and every consumer.
Electricity is an indispensable part of our everyday lives now – we rely on it being available. But electricity also has its hazards – are we fully aware of them?
Andreas Müller: Essentially, yes, but we do see plenty of installations which are not protected adequately or are defective. Installers have good basic knowledge, but specialist expertise is often needed depending on the consumer or installation environment. Unfortunately, availability and safety sometimes compete with each other: the system must not fail – but every fault should be identified and cut off immediately. This is where our products provide an outstanding service long term, ensuring both safety and convenience.
What needs to change?
Andreas Müller: We should not just be discussing efficient electricity generation, but should also be focusing publicly on handling electricity safely. More emphasis must be placed on the safe use of electricity, not least through even more extensive information and training.
What is Doepke doing?
Andreas Müller: Doepke is actively training and advising tradespeople, wholesalers, planners and system operators across Germany. We want to pass on our knowledge to our partners so that they can assess and plan systems and installations themselves. Increased committee work and involvement in various working groups and interest groups is also being undertaken with the aim of making the use of electricity even safer. There is still a great deal to do in this area.