ABSTRACT
The use of X-rays in medical diagnostic radiology has increased globally. The medical use of X-ray for diagnosis of illness is subject to the principles of justification and optimization for the protection of exposed individuals. Medical X-ray accounts for the largest exposure of humans to man-made ionizing radiation. Exposure of individuals can lead to long-term stochastic effects. Over exposure of humans in interventional procedures can also lead to deterministic effects such as skin burns in the short term. Even though, measures are put in place to protect the operators of the X-ray equipment, including radiologists, there are no systems to protect patients undergoing radiological examinations. To circumvent this problem therefore, this study was conducted to determine whether safety precautionary measures necessary for shielding patients contact to unsafe dose of radioactivity were being adhered to or not. The factors that affect patient protection include equipment performance, operator knowledge and skills in exposing the patient correctly to obtain the best diagnostic image with a minimum dose to the patient and monitoring and evaluation of patient dose to ensure consistency with Institutional Diagnostic reference level.