Who should Safety report to?

This has been a very heated topic in several other threads I am part of. And I can understand why. The Production Supervisor says they should report to him, and the Safety Guy says that he should report to the President.

My opinion is this, the Safety Professional has the responsibility to keep all workers safe, this includes from the lowest guy to the President. Unfortunately, when he reports to the Production Supervisor, things can get a little dicey. What happens when the Production Supervisor is rewarded for great work in the form of a bonus, and the Safety Pro interrupts that for a safety problem? I know what your thinking, safety is everyones responsibility, right? Well that isn't always the case, especially with those individuals who think in the past tense.

The Safety Pro must be able to act without fear of repercussion when it involves the safety of any individual, and it helps to have the backing of up high. This is not to say that the Safety Pro sits in the Ivory Tower, but he must be in the middle of the action when he or she makes a command decision to stop production. Thats what the Safety Pro is there for, right? 'Cause believe me cousin, when an employee gets hurt and the proverbial crap hits the fan, who gets called to the carpet? In the event of a fatality, who gets called in front of the Judge, because it will happen. I would hate it if the Safety Pro had to appear in a court and make the following statement, " Your Honor, I advised the Supervisor to cease the operation because I felt that it endangered the employee and was ignored".

Most times it pays to listen to your Safety Pro, especially if he is backed up by management.