Corporate Social Responsibility and Occupational Health and Safety: The Silent Architects Of Organizational Reputation

Year 2025, Volume: 5 Issue: 2, 194 - 217, 30.12.2025

Kaan Koçali

https://doi.org/10.71284/sjissr.2025526

Abstract

The positioning of businesses as institutions that bear social responsibility towards society and a broader stakeholder base, beyond their exclusively economic roles, has made Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) a strategic management imperative. CSR is considered a vital tool for securing social legitimacy and strengthening organizational reputation within the context of corporate sustainability. Despite being a legal requirement, Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) is currently a critical element at the heart of the ethical and social responsibility dimensions of CSR. Systematically ensuring employee health and safety is of strategic importance for building stakeholder trust and corporate reputation, as well as concretizing the company's social responsibility commitments. This study aims to examine the interaction between Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) on organizational reputation within a theoretical framework and to analyze the intersection of these two concepts based on current literature. The main thesis of the study is to combine CSR and OHS from an organizational reputation perspective, arguing that OHS is an invisible but critical strategic element in the social dimension of CSR. Within the framework of the presented CSR-OHS-Reputation Triangle Model, it is emphasized that businesses need to reposition OHS not merely as a cost center or compliance requirement, but as a strategic social responsibility tool and integrate it into their corporate reporting processes. This integration is essential for both fulfilling the ethical responsibilities of the business and permanently strengthening its organizational reputation. The study aims to contribute to the management literature by offering a new conceptual perspective on the strategic importance of invisible social responsibility practices and their indirect but powerful impact on organizational reputation.

Keywords

Corporate Social Responsibility , Occupational Health and Safety , Organizational Reputation , Social Responsibility , Strategic Management

Kurumsal Sosyal Sorumluluk ve İş Sağlığı Güvenliği: Örgütsel İtibarın Sessiz Mimarları

Abstract

İşletmelerin, münhasıran ekonomik rollerinin ötesinde, topluma ve geniş paydaş kitlesine karşı sosyal sorumluluk taşıyan kurumlar olarak konumlandırılması, Kurumsal Sosyal Sorumluluğu (KSS) stratejik bir yönetim zorunluluğu haline getirmiştir. KSS, kurumsal sürdürülebilirlik bağlamında toplumsal meşruiyetin sağlanması ve örgütsel itibarın güçlendirilmesi için hayati bir araç olarak kabul edilmektedir. Yasal bir zorunluluk olmasına rağmen İş Sağlığı ve Güvenliği (İSG), günümüz itibarıyla KSS'nin etik ve sosyal sorumluluk boyutlarının merkezinde yer alan kritik bir unsurdur. Çalışan sağlığının ve güvenliğinin sistematik biçimde güvence altına alınması, işletmenin toplumsal sorumluluk taahhütlerini somutlaştırması yanında, paydaş güveni ve kurumsal itibarın inşası için stratejik öneme sahiptir. Bu çalışma, Kurumsal Sosyal Sorumluluk (KSS) ve İş Sağlığı ve Güvenliği (İSG) alanlarının örgütsel itibar üzerindeki etkileşimini teorik bir çerçevede incelemeyi ve iki kavramın kesişim noktalarını güncel literatür temelinde analiz etmeyi amaçlamaktadır. Çalışmanın temel tezi, KSS ve İSG'yi örgütsel itibar perspektifinde birleştirerek, İSG'nin KSS'nin sosyal boyutunda görünmez fakat kritik bir stratejik unsur olduğunu ileri sürmektedir. Sunulan KSS-İSG-İtibar Üçgeni Modeli çerçevesinde, işletmelerin İSG'yi salt bir maliyet merkezi veya uyum gerekliliği olarak değil, stratejik bir sosyal sorumluluk aracı olarak yeniden konumlandırması ve kurumsal raporlama süreçlerine entegre etmesi gerektiği vurgulanmaktadır. Bu entegrasyon, hem işletmenin etik sorumluluklarını yerine getirmesi hem de örgütsel itibarını kalıcı olarak güçlendirmesi için vazgeçilmezdir. Çalışma, yönetim literatürüne, görünmez sosyal sorumluluk uygulamalarının stratejik önemi ve örgütsel itibar üzerindeki dolaylı ancak güçlü etkisi konusunda yeni bir kavramsal bakış açısı sunarak literatüre katkı sağlamayı hedeflemektedir.

Keywords

Kurumsal Sosyal Sorumluluk , İş Sağlığı ve Güvenliği , Örgütsel İtibar , Sosyal Sorumluluk , Stratejik Yönetim

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