I think potential guests need to be more aware that renting an Airbnb is nothing like booking a hotel subject to rigorous safety standard governed by law. Part of the purpose of this story is to point that out.
In 2013 two people died in a Best Western hotel (in the US) due to an improperly and illegally installed water heater. Seven weeks after that, one more person was killed in the exact same way, in the very same room. [1]
Are you sure conventional hotels "ensure" safety?
[1] http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/special-reports/nc-med...
But I too would love to see some objective stats from Airbnb on the number and nature of inbound tickets related to serious safety issues from guests. I doubt we will ever see anything like it.
Is your home inspected and polished to the level of a hotel? If not, why is your concern the one week you spend in a flat that airbnb is connected with?
If so, we should all get used to conducting our own safety tests on everything we buy and everywhere we stay? Although, that would be pretty damn inconvenient, wouldn't it? Day-in, day-out, inspecting everywhere we stay, every vehicle we ride in, all the food we eat... and the restaurants we eat them in...
Maybe there's a solution. Perhaps we could hire people to do those inspections for us, and since those inspections would inform everyone, we can communally pay for it with taxes? These people would certify whether something was safe, and ensure everything that was for sale / rent was certified to meet some minimum standard (because of course, otherwise some unscrupulous people might be inclined to lie about being certified.)
Problem solved! I'm a genius. Oh, wait a minute...