Abstract: A safety sleeve apparatus comprises a safety sleeve encapsulating a fluorescent tube for protecting the fluorescent tube from physical damage and for preventing the tube from sliding out of the sleeve and breaking if the sleeve is tilted from the horizontal during installation of the tube into a pair of lamp sockets. The sleeve protects the tube from damage if the sleeve is struck by a hard object, and creates an airspace around the tube to protect the tube from cold and prevent the escape of fragments from a broken tube. The sleeve has a greater inside diameter than the outside diameter of the tube. An end cap is mounted on each end of the sleeve, and the end cap includes a cylindrical ring extending upright from the edges of a flat end wall. Projections are included in the cylindrical ring and the projections attach to the slots in the ends of the sleeve.