Two South Australian companies have been fined almost $500,000 over the death of a worker in 2020.

Twenty-nine-year-old Robbie Westover suffered fatal head injuries at a quarry site when he entered the cavity of a rock-crushing machine and attempted to remove a metal blockage in April 2020.

SafeWork SA said no risk assessment was done at the quarry near Truro, north-east of Adelaide, and no training was provided to the worker in the removal of metal blockages.

Mining company, Kara Resources, which operates as Hallett Resources, had its fine reduced by 30 per cent to $455,000 for an early guilty plea, while labour hire company Taurus Recruitment was fined $40,000 after a 40 per cent reduction for its early guilty pleas.

The man had worked for Taurus Recruitment for five weeks before he died.

South Australian Employment Tribunal deputy president Judge Tony Rossi says Mr Westover and his family were entitled to rely upon Kara for adequate training and supervision.

“The tragic loss of life in this case could have, and should have, been avoided by a simple but firm instruction implemented as a safe work procedure and properly supervised and maintained, which prohibited any worker from entering a Rollercone crusher to remove a blockage or to conduct any other maintenance work,” he said.

SafeWork SA executive director Martyn Campbell said the needless loss of life was clearly preventable.

“No sentence can return their loved one, however this failure of the reasonable standard of care needs to be addressed and the court has done so today,” he said.