Introduction The use of a dose-monitoring system has recently become common in radiology departments. In our institution, we make creative use of the system’s functionalities to learn about workflow. Purpose To establish consistent and safe everyday practice standards throughout the radiology department; to understand the nature and cause of inconsistencies. Methods and materials Using DoseWatch (GE Healthcare), we gathered data from 12 imaging modalities within our radiology department (2 computed tomography (CT), 2 mammography (MX), 6 computed radiology (CR), 2 interventional radiology (IR)). Procedures were implemented to 1/standardize procedures (number of views), and 2/justify alerts by an a priori defined list of comments. Results Standard number of takes was achieved in 90% for CT, 80% for MX and 92% of CR procedures. Justification of alerts was performed for 78% of CT and 98% of interventional procedures; conversely for CR and mammography this was 0%. Of all justified alerts on CT, the main reported causes were “patient overweight” (39%), “extra series requested by radiologist” (22%) and “performed by request of cardiology staff” (13%). Almost all alerts (96%) for IR were caused by “difficulty of procedure”. To understand remaining issues in MX and CR, we need to change the focus/settings of the alert system. Conclusion Dose-monitoring software is a useful tool for everyday quality control. It helps us to identify shortcomings in the department. Opportunities for optimization and standardization present themselves by acquiring data from the workfloor, using a standard list of comments for alert-justification.