The widow of a man who was killed on a construction site says she is angry at the South Australian government's decision to maintain secrecy over legal advice relating to murdered nurse Gayle Woodford's death.
Jorge Castillo-Riffo was killed while working on the Royal Adelaide Hospital in 2014 and his partner Pam Gurner-Hall said it took her years to get answers about what happened.
"This is the fundamental problem when you're left behind. You can't get information," she said.
"I did not even know, for 27 months, how long Jorge had been stuck in that bloody scissor lift, suffering."
Ms Gurner-Hall, along with Ms Woodford's family, were two of four families of dead workers who spoke to an independent review of workplace watchdog SafeWork SA.
Labor promised the probe at the election, following SafeWork SA's decision not to prosecute Ms Woodford's employers.
The government has largely accepted the recommendations, but has rejected four, including that SafeWork disclose to an oversight body why it did not proceed with a prosecution.
It says "it has been a longstanding practice of governments of all political persuasions not to publicly disclose legal advice".
Ms Gurner-Hall said while she was happy most of the recommendations had been accepted, she was angry the same legal privilege argument that was used in her partner's case was also being used in the Woodford case.
"Legal professional privilege is in place to protect the average Joe Blow, basically, who may be giving information to a lawyer and needs that information protected. One fully understands that," she said.
"However, legal professional privilege is not something that should be abused and thrown over an entire workplace situation.
"The only ones that get protected in a situation like that are the employers themselves."
She said she understood the impact the struggle for information could have on a family's health and wellbeing.
"I understand fully why Gayle Woodford's family want to know why SafeWork decided not to investigate," she said.
"That seems a simple enough and a fair enough question."
The review found there was substance to families' feelings that SafeWork made errors, disrespected them and withheld information.
Industrial Relations Minister Kyam Maher said the government was already working on making the system better.
"We will be making legislative change to ensure that families are kept better informed and are more part of a process, particularly when someone dies," Mr Maher said.
The government says a separate review last year into the Woodford case found SafeWork conducted a comprehensive and careful investigation.
