The Pluggo™ Decapper is an automated benchtop safety device that is designed to eliminate repetitive stress injury and exposure to aerosols during decapping. The manual decapping of blood-collection tubes exposes laboratory personnel to repetitive stress injury in the hand and wrist. Another risk is the exposure to aerosols and splashes, evidenced by the requirement that laboratory personnel wear a face shield or use a Plexiglas shield between the hands and face during manual decapping. The simple, manual task of decapping can become a very expensive process when measured in terms of workers’ compensation, lost work, and medical expense.
     The Pluggo safety device occupies 10 x 16 inches of counter space. In addition, at a throughput of up to 3,000 tubes per hour, the Pluggo is at least three times faster than the manual decapping process.
     The Pluggo is fitted with an all-inclusive Plexiglas cover that contains all aerosols within the unit, as well as a tube cover that is used over all tubes except the tube at the decapping station. One Pluggo handles all standard glass or plastic tube sizes, from 12- to 16-mm diameters and from 75- to 100-mm heights. The Pluggo also handles different cap types, from conventional rubber to plastic Hemogard.
     The Pluggo is used in blood bank, chemistry, nucleic amplification testing, immunology, serology, virology, microbiology, coagulation, hematology, and urinalysis labs.

LGP Consulting Inc
(877) 251-9246; www.lgpconsulting.com