Coroner Mark Johns recommended a spotter be present whenever a scissor lift is used as an elevated work platform, following six deaths on scissor lifts since December 2014.

But the government has made no such policy, with Treasurer Rob Lucas saying businesses are obliged to take all reasonable steps to protect their workforce.

"That will involve ground support personnel in many cases," he said.

He said existing codes of practice require the use of spotters in some situations, depending on the risk involved.

But CFMEU national construction secretary Dave Noonan on Tuesday dismissed his comments as an attempt to pass the buck.

"Rob Lucas and the South Australian government is standing up for corporate profits, which he clearly values above South Australian workers' lives," Mr Noonan said.

"We have a state government that is failing South Australian workers and thumbing their noses at mandating best practice."

Mr Noonan said the government has let down safety campaigner Pam Gurner-Hall, whose partner Jorge Castillo-Riffo was fatally crushed while working on a scissor lift at the Royal Adelaide Hospital site in November 2014.

Mr Castillo-Riffo was alone when he was crushed between the lift and the slab of the floor above, and later died of catastrophic brain injuries.

It was after an inquest into his death that coroner Mark Johns recommended that all scissor lifts only be operated with a spotter on the ground below

Mr Johns delivered his report on November 1, 2018, and also suggested that scissor lift controls be standardised across the country.

Mr Lucas said he agrees with the idea, and will raise it at the next COAG Council meeting.

"These is an important role for Safe Work Australia - as the peak body responsible for developing national workplace safety policy - as well as Standards Australia, to ensure consistency across states and territories," he said.

Australian Associated Press