At work, it’s not unusual to run into situations where you don’t have the necessary tools for the job. When you reach this point, you have a choice: either to stop and locate the right tools or continue without them.

Choosing the second option often leads to using improvised tools, which may sound like a good thing, but is actually quite dangerous. Discover more about the dangers of using improvised tools at work.

You May Hurt Someone

One of the biggest problems with improvising tools at work is that you could end up hurting yourself or a coworker. For example, imagine a warehouse where a conveyor belt stops working. The workers need a special conveyor belt maintenance tool to hold down the belt and keep it from moving while they work on the mechanism, but they don’t have one. Instead, they use a piece of lumber clamped to the sides to hold the belt.

Unfortunately, that improvised belt clamp will not apply pressure to the belt evenly. It may let the belt slip, or it might even snap under enough pressure. If this happens, the person with their hands in the mechanism could be seriously injured.

You Could Damage Equipment

Here’s another example of how using improvised tools at work is dangerous. Let’s say you work in a wood manufacturing shop, and for some reason you can’t locate a screwdriver when you need one. Instead, you grab a chisel as an improvised replacement. Unfortunately, using a tool outside its intended purpose can break the tool—in this case, the chisel tip may snap off.

How To Improvise at Work Safely

Improvisation means creativity, and both traits are usually good things in the workplace. However, improvisation also leads to unknown outcomes, which happens when something breaks or someone gets hurt.

It’s best to limit improvisation to situations unlikely to cause physical harm, like trying out a new path-picking optimization in a shipping warehouse to decrease worker travel. Doing so will help encourage creativity without causing harm.