The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating the death of an audio specialist who died during setup for NASCAR’s Chicago Street Race Course last week.
Duane Tabinski appears to have been electrocuted June 30 near the Taddock Grandstand on the front stretch of the track in the 500 block of South Columbus, according to OSHA and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
A fatality inspection has been opened with Point Source LLC, which is a subcontractor of NASCAR, OSHA said. Tabinski, 53, had been hired by NASCAR to produce audio for pre-race celebrations.
A representative for Point Source LLC, couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.
OSHA has six months from the date of the incident to issue citations and proposed monetary penalties if the agency finds that violations of safety and health regulations contributed to Tabinski’s death.
Tabinski died at Northwestern Memorial Hospital after a witness heard him groan and found him “slumped over” in a “paddock” area where high-voltage electricity was circulating, according to a Chicago police report. Paramedics weren’t able to treat him until the danger was defused, the police report said.
An autopsy Saturday found he died of accidental contact with electrical wires, the medical examiner’s office said.
NASCAR officials called it “a fatal medical emergency” and shared “our condolences to the family and their loved ones.
The Hermitage, Tennessee, native had founded his own audio production company, which had helped with the production of major performers, including Toby Keith, Boston and Katy Perry.
“We are overwhelmingly devastated by the loss of Duane,” his wife of eight years, Kristin Tabinski, wrote in an email to the Sun-Times the day after his death. “He was so excited to help fans ‘feel’ the action, and his crew is going to ensure that the show will go on this weekend.”
Tabinski is survived by his wife, five children and seven grandchildren.
Contributing: Violet Miller
