referring now to the figures of the drawings in detail and first , particularly , to fig1 thereof , there is shown a typical escalator 1 having movable steps 2 , a stationary skirt panel 3 and a gap 4 between the movable steps 2 and the skirt panel 3 . fig2 shows a passenger conveyor safety apparatus 5 installed on the skirt panel 3 of the escalator 1 . the passenger conveyor safety apparatus 5 has a removable set of brushes 6 and a main body member 7 . fig3 a , 3b and 3c show an enlarged view of the passenger conveyor safety apparatus 5 . a main body member 7 has a plurality of holes 12 which accommodate unillustrated fasteners such as screws or rivets for fastening the passenger conveyor safety apparatus 5 to the skirt panel 3 as shown in fig2 . the main body member 7 also has a recessed groove 8 for accepting and holding a set of brushes 6 . when worn out , the brushes 6 can be quickly replaced by sliding the old brush set 6 out of recessed groove 8 and inserting a new set of brushes 6 . at both ends of the recessed groove 8 are hinged locking members 13 . the hinged locking members 13 rotate around the axis of hinge 16 . the hinged locking members 13 in the upright ( closed ) position secure the set of brushes in the recessed groove 8 . when the hinged locking member 13 is in the open position , as shown in fig3 c , the set of brushes 6 may be removed . in addition , fig3 b shows a plurality of switches 19 . if the set of brushes makes contact with the switch a warning signal is emitted . the warning signal can be an audio alarm or a light alarm contained on the switch . the set of brushes will activate the switch when an object pushes against the set of brush with sufficient force to push the set of brushes into the switch . fig4 a and 4b show two embodiments of the set of brushes 6 . the brushes 6 are configured with a back plate 9 holding brush bristles 10 . the back plate 9 is configured to slide in the recessed groove 8 of the main body member 7 . the brush bristles 10 can be configured to protrude straight out from the back plate 9 as shown in fig4 a . the brush bristles 10 can also protrude in a downward direction and / or in an angled direction that is directed toward the movement of the steps as is shown by direction arrows 17 and 18 . the angle can be anywhere from 0 - 90 degrees in relationship to the main body member 7 . the brush bristles 10 can be configured in various lengths depending on the size of the gap 4 or the level of coverage over the gap 4 that is desired . the brush bristles 10 can also be configured to be initially short and then become increasingly long as shown in fig4 b . that configuration will allow less of a starting friction in the initial contact with the passenger conveyor safety apparatus 5 . fig5 a shows the passenger conveyor safety apparatus 5 coming into contact with a human leg 11 and pushing against the human leg 11 . fig5 b and 5c show how the brush bristles 10 extend over the gap 4 and prevent an object such as the leg 11 from coming into contact with the gap 4 . fig5 c shows the brush bristles 10 pushing on a leg 11 shown in the direction from toe to heel . in addition , the passenger conveyor safety apparatus 5 prevents contact with the skirt panel 3 . an object that comes into contact with the skirt panel 3 experiences a frictional force that moves the object in the direction of the gap 4 . because the passenger conveyor safety apparatus reduces contact with the skirt panel 3 , the accidents caused by the skirt panel &# 39 ; s 3 frictional forces are also reduced . fig6 shows a typical moving walkway 14 equipped with the passenger conveyor safety apparatus 5 . the moving walkway 14 has a walk path 15 , a skirt panel 3 and a gap 4 between the skirt panel 3 and the walk path 15 . although the invention is illustrated to be used with an escalator or a moving walkway , it can easily be configured to be applied to any device that has an exposed gap 4 . fig7 shows a second embodiment of the passenger conveyor safety apparatus 5 . the main body member 7 contains a warning device such as a light 20 . the light illuminates when an object approaches the light 20 . as shown in fig7 the light 20 is in close proximity to the gap 4 . in addition , the light 20 can be illuminated at all times . when the object comes in closer proximity to the light , the illumination level of the light increases and thus provides a visual warning . fig8 shows a third embodiment of the passenger conveyor safety apparatus 5 . the main body member 7 contains a warning device such as a light beam transmitting device 21 which has a built in audio alarm . when a light beam from the light beam transmitting device is broken , the light beam transmitting device emits an audible warning signal or alarm .