A safety conveyor apparatus includes a feed section at which a worker loads the materials onto the conveyor and a subsequent conveyor section and an apparatus is provided for immobilizing the conveyor to ensure the safety of the worker in case the worker should be accidentally carried on the conveyor into the conveyor section. Each worker has a vest carrying a series of RFID tag members and a plurality of directionally shielded RFID antennas are mounted on the conveyor section on an arch above the conveyor facing downwardly and on sides facing inwardly to provide a signal to a control system responsive to detection of one or more of the tags by one or more of the antennas for stopping the movement of the conveyor. The tags are programmed with easily detectable codes which indicate the article to which they are attached allowing a periodic test procedure to be run.