In a stunning about-face, South Australia's health and safety regulator has reclassified nurse Gayle Woodford's death as work-related and reopened its investigation.

A SafeWork SA spokesperson said executive director Martyn Campbell met with the family of the murdered outback nurse late last week to discuss the findings of his review into the agency's handling of the matter, and to apologise to the family for the error.

Husband Keith Woodford said he had mixed feelings over the latest decision.

"At least somebody from that department is taking time to care was the main thing," he said.

"He seemed genuine to me."

The SafeWork SA spokesperson said the review found that, based on the evidence available at the time, SafeWork SA should have concluded Mrs Woodford's death was work-related.

The agency said it is also reopening the investigation as a result of new information.

A remote-area nurse with almost five years' experience, Mrs Woodford was on call in the remote community of Fregon on 23 March 2016, when convicted sex offender Dudley Davey lured her out of her high-security home and raped and murdered her.

Despite Davey admitting that he had drawn Mrs Woodford out of her home with the ruse that his grandmother needed a painkiller, SafeWork SA informed Mrs Woodford's family that her death was not work-related.

Mr Woodford discovered his wife was missing the next day when she failed to turn up for work.

Mrs Woodford was lured from her home by a man who said he needed painkillers for his sick grandmother. ( Supplied: SA Police )

Mrs Woodford's employer, Nganampa Health Council, had a suite of safety policies around on-call work that ultimately hinged on nurses making a personal risk assessment about whether or not to step outside the cage that enclosed their staff quarters.

Since Mrs Woodford's death, Nganampa has removed the personal risk assessment framework and put in place a community escort system so that patients don't present to nurses' houses, and nurses are never on call alone.

Mrs Woodford was the occupational health and safety representative for the Fregon clinic.

And in her sentencing remarks, Justice Ann Vanstone noted the care Mrs Woodford took for her safety.

Mr Woodford has called for a coronial inquest into his wife's death.

"What we're looking for is closure. At the moment we haven't got that and we're still all on tender threads because we just feel like we've been left hanging by the system," he said.

Watch Gayle Woodford's Australian Story, Final Call, on ABC iview.