Prime Minister Gordon Brown greets Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, wife of French President Nicolas Sarkozy, with a kiss at 10 Downing Street in London in March 2008.

Kiss or shake hands with a client or colleague? That is the big dilemma which faces workers around the country every day.

Workers in Britain are "safer" to greet colleagues of the opposite sex with a handshake than a kiss, a common greeting in other parts of Europe, a study released Friday said.

A survey of 1,200 workers by recruitment firm Office Angels said some became so anxious while deciding whether to kiss or shake hands that one in eight forgot the name of the person they were greeting.

One fifth had an embarrassing clash of faces as they tried to kiss, and one in 10 became so flustered they resorted to waving instead.

A similar number had actually allowed a colleague to sit through a meeting with lipstick on their cheek.

And an over-enthusiastic few said they had ended up accidentally groping a colleague or client after opting for a kiss while the other one tried to shake hands.

Londoners were most likely to be concerned about the issue, compared with workers in Northern Ireland, where most always went for a handshake, according to the research by the recruitment firm.

"My advice would always be, if in any doubt, go for a handshake. A handshake is always considered professional and courteous, and being on the safe side of formal is never a bad thing in a work place situation." David Clubb, the managing director of Office Angels said.