Investigations into a death at the Tropicana mine camp in WA have inflamed debate over alcohol policies at sites.

An article has appeared in the West Australian describing the death of a young truck driver, who the paper alleges died after being struck during a drunken fight, fatally hitting his head.

Reports say the man that struck the driver was his friend, a 29-year-old father of three from Perth, who subsequently took his own life following the events.

The fight occurred during a shift-change period. On these nights, workers say they finish a week of day shifts and have a 24-hour break before starting night shifts again.

“You have 24 hours before you have to blow in the bag, so if you want to you can get smashed,” a worker, who wanted to remain anonymous, allegedly told reporters.

Industry media outlets say the Tropicana camp allows workers to take away four open cans of mid-strength beer before 7:30pm, as well as buying two cans at a time within the bar area until 8:30pm on shift-change nights.

The dark events have been used to shed light on the ability to circumvent rules aimed at limiting alcohol consumption.

Some have proposed strengthened measures such as a ‘tab’ system backed by drinks credit cards, which would allow constant monitoring of consumption and an easy way to cut off heavy drinkers.

Others say that while some shift-change conditions do lead to heavier drinking, the majority of FIFO workers in camp sites are more than capable of monitoring their own drinking and safety.