An agricultural company was sentenced at the Huntly District Court after one of its workers died in a tractor crash after clocking up a 17 hour work day (file photo).

A North Waikato tractor driver was so tired after a 200 hour working fortnight he drove off the road to his death.

The Micheal​ Vining Contracting Ltd worker clocked up 197.25 hours in the two weeks leading up to the crash.

In October 2016, the driver was helping with harvesting operations on a farm in Pukekawa. He logged a 16.75 hour day before leaving the farm, taking a tractor home in preparation for the next day's work.

At 2.45am he crashed the tractor and died as a result of his injuries. The driver was also not wearing a seatbelt.

A WorkSafe investigation found that fatigue was the most likely cause of the accident.

The agricultural company was sentenced in the Huntly District Court.

"Getting the job done is important, but not if the hours required to do it put workers at risk of injury or death," WorkSafe Deputy General Manager, Investigations and Specialist Services, Simon Humphries, said in a statement.

The company had a health and safety document prepared for them in January 2016, Humphries said.

It identified fatigue as a high-rating hazard and outlined management steps including the monitoring of work hours and break times.

"This document had not been reviewed or implemented. The warning was there and the company did nothing about it.

"Seasonal work and tasks like harvest can put a huge amount of pressure on everyone involved. Managing the risks is essential. The life, health and wellbeing of your workers must be your number one priority".

Micheal​ Vining Contracting Ltd was charged with failing to ensure, so far as was reasonably practicable, the health and safety of its workers.

The company was fined $10,000, however, the court indicated that a $325,000 was appropriate. Reasons why this amount was not imposed was suppressed by the court.

Reparation of $80,000 and costs of $2656.50 were ordered.

This is the first sentencing for fatigue-related failings since the introduction of the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015.