diff --git a/api/src/workert.ts b/api/src/workert.ts
index dccef23..81dfc67 100644
--- a/api/src/workert.ts
+++ b/api/src/workert.ts
@@ -3,7 +3,23 @@ import { io, Socket } from "socket.io-client";
 import { WorkerQueue } from "./modules/workers/queues";
 import { setupEventDebugger } from "./modules/logging/eventDebugger";
 
-const boss = new PgBoss(process.env.DATABASE_URL!);
+// 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);
@@ -155,9 +171,22 @@ if (import.meta.main) {
   console.log(
     `[worker] Connecting to PgBoss on DATABASE_URL and SocketIO on ${process.env.MANAGER_SOCKET_URL ?? "http://localhost:8671"}`
   );
+  console.log(`[worker] DATABASE_URL set: ${!!process.env.DATABASE_URL}`);
 
   // Ensure PgBoss is connected and queues exist
-  await ensureBossStarted();
+  console.log("[worker] Starting PgBoss...");
+  try {
+    await Promise.race([
+      ensureBossStarted(),
+      new Promise<never>((_, reject) =>
+        setTimeout(() => reject(new Error("boss.start() timed out after 30s")), 30_000)
+      ),
+    ]);
+  } catch (err) {
+    console.error("[worker] FATAL: PgBoss failed to start:", err);
+    process.exit(1);
+  }
+  console.log("[worker] PgBoss started successfully");
   await ensureDalpuriSyncQueue();
 
   // Register job handler for DALPURI_FULL_SYNC