ObjectiveThe present study analyzed relationship of workplace violence and perpetrators of violence on sleep disturbance among wage workers in Korea.MethodsThe present study used data from the 4th Korean Working Conditions Survey (KWCS) of 2014 in selecting a total of 25,138wage workers as the study population, which excluded those who failed or refused to respond to questions required for the present study. The workplace violence experience group included people who satisfied at least one of six relevant criteria (verbal abuse, unwanted sexual attention, threatening or humiliating behavior, physical violence, bullying/harassment, and sexual harassment) and the group was divided according to whether the perpetrator of violence was a client or colleague. Presence of sleep disturbance was determined based on subjective symptoms felt within the past 12 months by each individual. A multiple logistic regression analysis was performed to identify the effects on sleep distance according to general, occupational, and psychosocial characteristics, as well as the types of workplace violence and perpetrators of violence.ResultsWorkplace violence was found as a factor affecting sleep disturbance (OR = 3.773, 95 % CI = 3.058–4.655), and with respect to perpetrators of violence, complaint of sleep disturbance symptoms was higher when the perpetrator was a colleague or boss (OR = 5.688, 95 % CI 4.189–7.723) than a client (OR = 2.992, 95 % CI 2.301–3.890).ConclusionWorkplace violence had an effect on occurrence of sleep disturbance and when the perpetrators of violence was a boss or colleague at work, the risk for symptoms such as sleep disturbance increased, which indicated the need for appropriate intervention from a workplace healthcare perspective, including preventive education of workplace violence among employees.

We reported a case of complicated silicosis that occurred in a glass manufacturing plant worker who had presumably been exposed to low-concentration free silica for almost 20 years. To the best of our knowledge this report is the first in the Republic of Korea. The physician’s first impression was cancer since the enlargement of neck and supraclavicuar lymph nodes had clearly progressed and metastasis was suspected in ultrasonography. However, it turned out to be reactive hyperplasia and anthracosis. Although lung cancer was suspected and tests were performed in 2 hospitals due to repetitive cough and dyspnea, along with weight loss of approximately 10% over the course of 7 months, the patient was eventually diagnosed with complicated silicosis and pneumothorax occurred after 1 year. Herein, we report this case with a literature review.