diff --git a/api/src/api/cw/sync.ts b/api/src/api/cw/sync.ts
index 49a474d..cc63bb2 100644
--- a/api/src/api/cw/sync.ts
+++ b/api/src/api/cw/sync.ts
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ import { createRoute } from "../../modules/api-utils/createRoute";
 import { apiResponse } from "../../modules/api-utils/apiResponse";
 import { ContentfulStatusCode } from "hono/utils/http-status";
 import { authMiddleware } from "../middleware/authorization";
-import { getBoss } from "../../workert";
+import { getBoss } from "../../boss-instance";
 import { WorkerQueue } from "../../modules/workers/queues";
 
 /* POST /v1/cw/sync/full */
diff --git a/api/src/boss-instance.ts b/api/src/boss-instance.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c431a4b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/api/src/boss-instance.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+/**
+ * Shared PgBoss singleton — kept in its own module to break circular imports
+ * between workert.ts and the worker modules that call getBoss().
+ */
+import { PgBoss } from "pg-boss";
+
+function makePgBossUrl(rawUrl: string): string {
+  try {
+    const u = new URL(rawUrl);
+    // 30-second statement timeout to prevent individual SQL queries from
+    // hanging indefinitely if the DB server stops responding mid-query.
+    u.searchParams.set("options", "-c statement_timeout=30000");
+    return u.toString();
+  } catch {
+    return rawUrl;
+  }
+}
+
+export const boss = new PgBoss({
+  connectionString: makePgBossUrl(process.env.DATABASE_URL!),
+  connectionTimeoutMillis: 15_000,
+});
+
+boss.on("error", (err) => {
+  console.error("[worker] PgBoss error", err);
+});
+
+export function getBoss(): PgBoss {
+  return boss;
+}
diff --git a/api/src/index.ts b/api/src/index.ts
index 07e2d67..5093921 100644
--- a/api/src/index.ts
+++ b/api/src/index.ts
@@ -6,7 +6,8 @@ import { events } from "./modules/globalEvents";
 import { setupEventDebugger } from "./modules/logging/eventDebugger";
 import { signPermissions } from "./modules/permission-utils/signPermissions";
 import { RoleController } from "./controllers/RoleController";
-import { initializeWorkerSystem, getBoss } from "./workert";
+import { initializeWorkerSystem } from "./workert";
+import { getBoss } from "./boss-instance";
 import { WorkerQueue } from "./modules/workers/queues";
 import { enqueueIncrementalSync } from "./modules/workers/incremental-sync";
 import { startCommsServer } from "./modules/workers/coms";
diff --git a/api/src/modules/workers/incremental-sync.ts b/api/src/modules/workers/incremental-sync.ts
index bd7533e..df64440 100644
--- a/api/src/modules/workers/incremental-sync.ts
+++ b/api/src/modules/workers/incremental-sync.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import { getBoss } from "../../workert";
+import { getBoss } from "../../boss-instance";
 import { WorkerQueue } from "./queues";
 
 /**
diff --git a/api/src/workert.ts b/api/src/workert.ts
index 3035633..d99e0b9 100644
--- a/api/src/workert.ts
+++ b/api/src/workert.ts
@@ -1,29 +1,7 @@
-import { PgBoss } from "pg-boss";
 import { io, Socket } from "socket.io-client";
 import { WorkerQueue } from "./modules/workers/queues";
 import { setupEventDebugger } from "./modules/logging/eventDebugger";
-
-// Add statement and connection timeouts to prevent silent hangs
-function makePgBossUrl(rawUrl: string): string {
-  try {
-    const u = new URL(rawUrl);
-    // 30-second statement timeout and 15-second TCP connect timeout
-    u.searchParams.set("options", "-c statement_timeout=30000");
-    u.searchParams.set("connect_timeout", "15");
-    return u.toString();
-  } catch {
-    return rawUrl;
-  }
-}
-
-const boss = new PgBoss({
-  connectionString: makePgBossUrl(process.env.DATABASE_URL!),
-  connectionTimeoutMillis: 15_000,
-});
-
-boss.on("error", (err) => {
-  console.error("[worker] PgBoss error", err);
-});
+import { boss, getBoss } from "./boss-instance";
 
 let bossStartPromise: Promise<void> | null = null;
 let reservationQueueReady = false;
@@ -160,14 +138,6 @@ export async function initializeWorkerSystem(): Promise<void> {
   console.log("[worker] Worker system initialized - ready for job enqueueing");
 }
 
-/**
- * Get the PgBoss instance for direct job enqueueing.
- * Must call initializeWorkerSystem() first.
- */
-export function getBoss(): PgBoss {
-  return boss;
-}
-
 if (import.meta.main) {
   // if (Bun.env.NODE_ENV === "development") {
   //   setupEventDebugger({ processLabel: "WORKER" });