Away with the Red Tape for Young People who have Suffered Industrial Injuries

The National Board of Industrial Injuries, Denmark, wants to learn where red tape inconveniences young people who have suffered industrial injuries and help initiatives that streamline individual cases. MindLab helped the National Board of Industrial Injuries to understand young people’s case histories and to come up with new ideas in this area.

”It’s difficult managing all of these documents from the National Board of Industrial Injuries and I have to read them all by myself. A lot of them time there’s words I don’t understand and my mum doesn’t understand them either, so I don’t know who to ask.”

Social Care Worker, 24 years

A 24-year old social care worker has two ring binders packed with letters from the National Board of Industrial Injuries. When the case first started, she spent a long time reading all the letters she received even though she had great difficulties understanding them. Today she has eventually stopped reading the letters thoroughly. Out of the total of 25 letters that she received only four required an answer.

The study found out that the young industrial injury victims had difficulty understanding how their cases were handled and how decisions were reached. They also felt overwhelmed by all the different information and enquiries sent out by the National Board of Industrial Injuries.

MindLab interviewed

• A total of seven young people from Copenhagen, Fyn and East Jutland, all under the age of 30, who had suffered work injuries working in the healthcare sector.

Principal Results

• In cooperation with the National Board of Industrial Injuries staff, MindLab developed four specific ideas, based on making administrative procedures more understandable and on helping to make the injured more aware of what a case at the National Board of Industrial Injuries involved.

What MindLab did

Together with National Board of Industrial Injuries employees, MindLab twice visited the seven young people who had suffered work injuries. Young people with short and medium-term health educations were represented. A clear picture emerged that showed there was a real difference between a nurse and a social health care worker when it came to dealing with public sector bureaucracy. A medium-term education enabled a person to better understand forms, questionnaires, the consultation of interested parties and rules and this increased their degree of satisfaction with the handling of the case.

MindLab discussed with the injured young people the most important letter they had received from the National Board of Industrial Injuries and were informed about misunderstandings, frustrations and red tape. The people interviewed gave an insight into citizens’ reasoning and their behavioural patterns. Working in cooperation with staff from the National Board of Industrial Injuries, these insights were transformed into specific ideas. The new solutions that were proposed were adjusted and refined after another meeting with the injured.