Report: ‘Alarming Number’ of Airbnb Rentals ‘Lack Basic Safety Protections’

An “alarming number” of Airbnb’s “lack basic safety protections,” including smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, fire extinguishers, and first aid kits, according to a report.

Citing a study from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Gizmodo reported that eight in ten Airbnb venues had smoke detectors, while “just over half had carbon monoxide detectors.”

“A majority of them failed to offer fire extinguishers (just 42 percent) or first-aid kits (36 percent),” continued Gizmodo, who added that the data could be on the generous side considering “there’s no way to tell if the equipment is actually in working order.”

“The precautions taken by Airbnb operators vary from city to city—Denver, Colorado had the highest rate of carbon monoxide detectors at 73.9 percent while Austin, Texas had just 36.9 percent, for example—in large part because America lacks any national standard governing the requirements of peer-to-peer hospitality services,” they explained. “By contrast, hotels actually have standardized expectations that they have to meet. They are often required to make sure fire escape routes and fire doors are posted in all rooms, fire extinguishers are accessible, smoke detectors are in working order, and fire sprinkler systems are functional.”

According to a press release, the researchers found the results “troubling.”