Occupational Safety and Health as the Core of Corporate Social Responsibility: A Resource-Based Perspective

Abstract

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is increasingly recognized as a strategic component of sustainable business management. Nevertheless, its implementation remains largely compliance-driven, with organizations emphasizing policies, certifications, audit documentation, and reporting rather than measurable improvements in workplace conditions. This paper argues that such a documentation-oriented approach inadequately explains how CSR creates value for employees, particularly in occupational safety and health (OSH). Drawing upon international CSR, responsible business conduct, and OSH frameworks, this conceptual study proposes a resource-based framework that reconceptualizes CSR implementation as an organizational capability. The framework identifies six interrelated organizational resources: financial, human, temporal, governance, data, and culture, as the enabling mechanisms through which CSR commitments are translated into workplace justice, employee participation, effective risk management, and sustainable organizational performance. The study further argues that enterprises operating high-risk occupations require substantially greater resource investment because inadequate organizational capacity may directly threaten workers' health, safety, and dignity. By integrating CSR with workplace justice and OSH management, this study extends the current CSR literature beyond compliance-based perspectives and provides a conceptual foundation for embedding social responsibility into everyday workplace governance. The proposed framework offers practical guidance for organizations seeking to strengthen employee well-being, organizational resilience, and long-term sustainability through resource-enabled CSR implementation.