Charles Harper was struck by coiled pipe when it sprung from the back of a trailer causing fatal abdominal and chest injuries.

Birmingham coroner James Bennett has concluded his investigation into the accident and has now written to trade bodies The Pipeline Industries Guild and British Drilling Association calling on them to alert members to potential risks.

He said: “In my opinion action should be taken to prevent future deaths.”

The coroner heard that the coil trailer was supplied with a restraining clamp and strap to secure the tail end of the coiled pipe to prevent it springing but it wasn’t used.

He added: “A material number of drilling and pipe dispensing companies have in the past, and continue, to dispense coiled pipe without the use of any method of securing the tail end of the pipe coil, contrary to trailer operating manual instructions.

“The use of exclusion zones may be insufficient alone, and provide a false sense of security, to guard against the risk of a worker being struck by the tail end of a coiled pipe springing in an unpredictable way when stored energy is released at the final stage of dispensing.”