DIYbanter - View Single Post - Question about house re-wiring

wrote:
Despite the popular perception of the dangers of electrickery, the
reality is the death rate is orders of magnitude lower than deaths
caused by stairs, and injuries are orders fo magnitude lower than those
caused by beds, DIY accidents, and so on.

There was thread the other day, kicked off by somebody concerned about
the presence of old rubber wiring in his property; the general consensus
of the replies was that he was virtually advised not to enter the
death-trap of a house until it was sorted out.

Now, I'm thinking there must still be thousands of rubber-wired
properties around the country - I've certainly come across plenty in my
time - and while I'm not for a minute arguing against the desirability
of rewiring ASAP under such circumstances, I'm just wondering how many
fatalities/injuries/house fires can be attributed to this ancient
wiring? Are there stats available? How dangerous *really* is it?

David