Most employees who wear masks to work tend to be surgeons, building inspectors, sewage workers, dentists or those in the army.

But unlucky office workers in China had to stay at work fitted with gas masks after managers refused to give them time off while their office filled with car exhaust fumes.

Builders who had come in to reinstall the office’s air conditioning bungled it by setting it up to suck in supposedly fresh air from the underground car park below the building.

Staff complained of watery eyes, coughing fits and headaches as a result of braving the fumes at the office in Nanchong, Sichuan province.

Only on the third day were employees given the gas marks to keep them healthy at work, after health experts tested the office and saw no reason for the building to close as long as managers provided the army-like masks.

The Employee Benefits team feels their pain. We could have done with gas masks on Monday when our building managers decided to re-varnish the doors next to our desks.