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SINGAPORE – A construction worker was performing his duties on the first floor of the Shaw Plaza shopping center on November 14 last year when he fell nearly 5 meters through a fragile floor covering that was hidden by concrete dust.
Mr. Ramakrishnan Ravichandran was pronounced dead at the hospital that same morning.
During an investigation into his death on Thursday (December 3), Coroner Prem Raj said the 30-year-old Indian national had stepped on a plasterboard, which gave way because it was not intended to support the weight of a man.
According to the website of the United States-based Gypsum Association, this type of board is commonly known as drywall and is used for wall, ceiling, and partition systems.
The coroner said none of the workers at the site on Balestier Road were aware of the brittle floor covering and were not alerted to it.
Mr. Ramakrishnan, wearing a safety helmet, plummeted about 5 meters to the basement and was found lying face down on the ground. He was pronounced dead at Tan Tock Seng Hospital.
Coroner Prem said Ramakrishnan died from multiple injuries, including a skull fracture. His death was an “unfortunate work accident,” the coroner added.
He also said that floor openings should be covered with safer items, such as concrete slabs, and warning signs should be posted nearby if drywall is used.
Mr. Ramakrishnan was a former employee of Express 21, which works on electrical engineering projects and structured cabling for buildings, among other things.
Previous news reports said he had been married less than a year before the tragedy occurred.
His body arrived in his hometown of Vellore in Tamil Nadu state on November 16 last year. His family, including his wife, widowed mother and siblings, performed the funeral rites that same day.
His cousin, Murugesan Letchumanan, 34, had told Singapore’s Tamil Murasu newspaper: “His life as a married man has just begun and he has not had children yet. No one can accept the loss.”
Ramakrishnan’s older brother Parthipan, 32, also worked as a construction worker in Singapore.
Even though they lived in different dormitories, they always made sure to meet once every two weeks.
Parthipan had said: “You can ask anyone in my village, no one would say anything bad about him. He was always smiling and was friendly to everyone.”
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