A detection device for safety apparatuses for the control of industrial machines or plants comprises a reading head adapted to be associated with the receiving device of the safety apparatus to receive a presence signal provided with the identification code following the positioning of one of the movable actuators at a predetermined minimum distance from said reading head, a processing circuit integrated in said head and adapted to generate a plurality of output signals corresponding to respective command or signalling functions for one or more parts of the machine or plant, wherein the processing circuit is adapted to associate to each of said identification signals a personalized combination of said output signals for the execution of respective combinations of said functions differentiated for one or more of said movable actuators.