Professional Review of Radiography Department Health and Safety Management Practices at General Hospitals in Plateau State

Health and safety management in radiology departments encompasses radiation safety, chemical safety for darkroom processing agents, electrical safety for high-voltage imaging equipment, fire safety, and biological safety from handling patient-contact surfaces and waste, making it among the most complex occupational safety environments in hospital settings. In Plateau State, North Central Nigeria, the health and safety management practices in general hospital radiology departments have not been professionally reviewed. This study professionally reviews health and safety management practices in radiology departments of general hospitals in Plateau State. A structured professional audit is applied to twelve general hospitals across Jos, Barkin Ladi, and Pankshin local government areas, assessing health and safety documentation, risk assessment completion, personal protective equipment availability, equipment safety testing records, emergency procedures, and staff safety training records. Interviews with 48 radiology department staff provide safety culture and knowledge data. An overall health and safety compliance score is computed for each facility. Descriptive statistics are calculated in SPSS. Available occupational safety literature from North Central Nigerian hospital radiology departments identifies absence of documented risk assessments and insufficient fire safety equipment in radiology rooms as the most consistent deficiencies. The ISO 45001 Occupational Health and Safety Management Standard and Nigerian Factory Act provisions provide the professional compliance framework. Findings are expected to reveal health and safety management maturity scores below acceptable thresholds at most facilities. Recommendations address a state-coordinated radiology department safety audit programme, mandatory health and safety officer training for radiology department heads, and standardised safety management documentation. Keywords: health and safety management, radiology departments, general hospitals, Plateau State, North Central Nigeria.