A construction worker was carrying out his duties on the first storey of a site at Shaw Plaza shopping mall on Nov 14 last year when he fell nearly 5m through a fragile floor covering that was hidden by concrete dust.

Mr Ramakrishnan Ravichandran was pronounced dead at Tan Tock Seng Hospital later that morning.

During an inquiry yesterday into his death, Coroner Prem Raj said the 30-year-old Indian national had stepped on a gypsum board which gave way as it was not meant to support a man's weight.

According to the United States-based Gypsum Association's website, such a board is commonly known as a drywall and is used for wall, ceiling as well as partition systems.

Coroner Prem said none of the workers at the site in Balestier Road had been aware of the fragile floor covering and they were not alerted to it.

Mr Ramakrishnan, who was wearing a safety helmet, plummeted about 5m to the basement and was found lying face down on the ground.

Coroner Prem said Mr Ramakrishnan died of multiple injuries, including a fractured skull. His death was an "unfortunate workplace accident", the coroner added.

He also said floor openings should be covered with more secure items such as concrete slabs and warning signs have to be put up in the vicinity if gypsum boards are used.

Mr Ramakrishnan was employed by Express 21, which works on electrical engineering and structured cabling projects for buildings, among other things.

News reports said he had been married for less than a year before the tragedy occurred.

His body was flown back to his hometown of Vellore in the state of Tamil Nadu on Nov 16 last year. His family, including his wife, widowed mother and siblings, held the funeral rites that same day.

His cousin, Mr Murugesan Letchumanan, 34, had told Singapore's Tamil Murasu newspaper: "His life as a married man just started and he did not have any children yet. No one can accept the loss."

Mr Ramakrishnan's older brother Parthipan, 32, who also worked as a construction worker in Singapore, 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."