Corporate social responsibility and governance

This chapter discusses the concepts of corporate social responsibility and governance along with related areas including social accountability, sustainability and enterprise risk management. It provides the occupational safety and health (OSH) practitioner a greater understanding of emerging corporate strategy and management topics. The chapter considers the roles of the chief executive officer or managing director and the Board of Directors and how the OSH practitioner can assist in steering the organisation in the right direction on important decisions. It explores what is meant by corporate social responsibility and its association with OSH, and discusses the importance of ethical decision making in business and on an individual basis. The chapter examines the relevance of sustainability and social accountability to OSH and explains the importance of integrating OSH within a wider enterprise risk management framework. It illustrates corporate governance and the components of an effective corporate OSH governance framework.