I was advocating an independent safety director reporting to the CEO with the budget and resources required NOT safety officers subordinate to directors of ops and maintenance.
They exist in many airlines and military air organizations. Still they are only as effective as the CEO/CO/Commander allows them to be. In my military and airline experience, operations still "wins" the arguments most of the time, because the CEO wants the airplanes moving.
Our current "Safety Director" is a do-nothing.