PepsiCo Case Study: Driving a Change in Culture by Viewing ‘Safety Differently’

PepsiCo products are enjoyed by consumers more than one billion times a day in more than 200 countries and territories around the world.   First established in Ireland 51 years ago, PepsiCo currently employs more than 1,250 people in Ireland, increasing its workforce by more than 20% in the last few years.

Through its ‘Courage to Care’ programme, PepsiCo aims to strengthen psychological safety and empower frontline teams to speak up about risks without fear of retribution.

What 3 things did PepsiCo do to drive change in culture and safety communication?

1. Get the Full Picture of Safety and Risk

PepsiCo noticed that communication clarity on event reporting for intended audiences could be improved, so leadership worked to increase that clarity at their sites.  To encourage more dialogue and reporting of events they trained their management teams on the importance of recognising and addressing bias and nurturing psychological safety.

2. Empower Teams

They encourage their associates to recognise and report risks when they see them and to be part of the solution-finding process.  When a shipping department at one of the sites reported an unusually high number of safety events, leadership chose to recognise the team for proactively identifying risks and contributing to solutions. This approach helped reframe reporting as a strength, not a weakness.

3. Lead with Curiosity in Safety Talks

Management began engaging in informal, curious conversations with frontline staff, using prompts like “Where’s it easy to make a mistake?” to uncover opportunities in real working conditions. These talks are now a key metric for building trust and understanding actual safety challenges.

See the full case study here