Statement of purpose The purpose of total worker safety and health in Kentucky is to create a viable integrated health, safety and productivity management model that provides a holistic, inclusive and empowering approach to prevention for Kentucky businesses to institutionalise within their organisation and their community.

Methods/Approach Kentucky’s approach is to focus on providing a holistic approach that includes transportation related safety issues, worksite wellness programs, on-the-job and off-the-job worker and family safety and health, workplace violence prevention, emergency preparedness, ergonomics, overexertion prevention and drug-free workplace programs.

Results Our Core Violence and Injury Prevention Program’s Injury Community Planning Group serves a neutral hub for bringing together a growing number of worker safety-focused and health-centred organisations within Kentucky who are dedicated to advancing the principles and practices of the NIOSH Total Worker HealthTM program.

Conclusions Building upon the principles of NIOSH’s Total Worker HealthTM, we are building a network of professionals, employers, and educators who promote on- and off- the job health and safety for employees, families and communities. We have established a core of state and national level organisations to champion this initiative within Kentucky. State champions are: 1) KSPAN; 2) Kentucky Injury Prevention and Research Centre; 3) Kentucky OSH Surveillance program; 4) Kentucky Labour Cabinet; 5) Kentucky DPH, Worksite Wellness Program; and 5) Kentucky Safety and Health Network. National champions include: 1) National Safety Council; 2) NIOSH; and 3) State of Wellness.

Significance and contribution to the field Only by promoting a synergistic approach to safety and health can we truly create a supportive culture of safety and health in Kentucky. The significance of this approach is the recognition that Total Worker Health takes us all, government, educators, non-profits, businesses, workers, their families and the local community to achieve a true culture of safety, health and well-being that we all desire.