• Hye-Eun Lee, Hyoung-Ryoul Kim, and Jung Sun Park.
• Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea.
• J Occup Health. 2014 Jan 1;56(1):12-20.

ObjectivesThe aim of this study was to identify work-related risk factors for workplace violence in a representative sample of Korean employees.MethodsWe analyzed the associations between work-related factors and workplace violence in 29,171 employees using data from the 2011 Korean Working Conditions Survey. The survey included questions about verbal abuse, unwanted sexual attention, threats and behavior that humiliated the victim, physical violence, bullying/harassment and sexual harassment, and a respondent who answered yes to any of these 6 items was considered a victim of workplace violence.ResultsThe prevalences of verbal abuse, unwanted sexual attention and threats/behavior that humiliated victims in the month preceding the study were 4.8, 1.0 and 1.5%, respectively. The prevalences of physical violence, bullying/harassment and sexual harassment in the year preceding the study were 0.7, 0.3 and 0.4%, respectively. Service workers had higher prevalences of overall workplace violence. Non-regular workers (OR=2.38, 95% CI=2.01-2.84), working more than 60 hours per week as opposed to 40-48 hours per week (OR=1.83, 95% CI=1.45-2.31) and night shift work (OR=1.88, 95% CI=1.54-2.30) were significant risk factors associated with workplace violence.ConclusionsLong working hours, job insecurity and night shift work were associated with a significant increase in workplace violence among Korean employees.

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