diff --git a/services/worker/src/workers/promotion.js b/services/worker/src/workers/promotion.js
index b50497d..d5a5429 100644
--- a/services/worker/src/workers/promotion.js
+++ b/services/worker/src/workers/promotion.js
@@ -6,9 +6,10 @@
 // Why a poll loop and not chokidar: NFS/SMB mounts don't reliably surface
 // inotify events through the kernel; mtime polling is the boring-but-works
 // answer for fairness across all storage backends.
-import { readdir, stat, unlink, readFile } from 'node:fs/promises';
+import { readdir, stat, unlink } from 'node:fs/promises';
 import { join, relative, basename } from 'node:path';
 import { createReadStream } from 'node:fs';
+import { Queue } from 'bullmq';
 import { query } from '../db/client.js';
 import { uploadStreamToS3 } from '../s3/client.js';
 
@@ -19,6 +20,24 @@ const POLL_MS      = 5000;
 let inflight = new Set();
 let idleThresholdMs = 8000;
 
+// BUG FIX #3: Create a single module-level proxyQueue instead of spinning up
+// a new Queue connection (and closing it) on every promoted file. Repeatedly
+// creating and closing BullMQ Queues hammers Redis with connect/disconnect
+// cycles and leaks connections when the close() call races with the add().
+const parseRedisUrl = (url) => {
+  const parsed = new URL(url);
+  return { host: parsed.hostname, port: parseInt(parsed.port, 10) || 6379 };
+};
+
+const proxyQueue = new Queue('proxy', {
+  connection: parseRedisUrl(process.env.REDIS_URL || 'redis://queue:6379'),
+});
+
+// Interval handles — stored so startPromotionWorker() can expose a shutdown
+// function for the SIGTERM handler in index.js (BUG FIX #4).
+let scanInterval = null;
+let thresholdInterval = null;
+
 async function loadIdleThreshold() {
   try {
     const r = await query(
@@ -80,19 +99,13 @@ async function promote(filePath) {
       [s3Key, st.size, asset.id]
     );
 
-    // Queue the proxy job so the editor gets a browser-playable proxy and
-    // the panel's "relink to hi-res" path becomes available.
-    const { Queue } = await import('bullmq');
-    const { hostname, port } = new URL(process.env.REDIS_URL || 'redis://queue:6379');
-    const proxyQueue = new Queue('proxy', {
-      connection: { host: hostname, port: parseInt(port, 10) || 6379 },
-    });
+    // BUG FIX #3 (cont): Use the module-level proxyQueue singleton instead of
+    // creating a new Queue + closing it inside every promote() call.
     await proxyQueue.add('generate', {
       assetId:  asset.id,
       inputKey: s3Key,
       outputKey: `proxies/${asset.id}.mp4`,
     });
-    await proxyQueue.close();
 
     await unlink(filePath).catch(err => {
       console.warn(`[promotion] could not unlink ${rel}: ${err.message}`);
@@ -112,14 +125,26 @@ async function scan() {
     let st;
     try { st = await stat(file); } catch (_) { continue; }
     if (now - st.mtimeMs >= idleThresholdMs && st.size > 0) {
-      promote(file);
+      // BUG FIX #3 (cont): await promote() so that unhandled promise rejections
+      // don't escape the scan loop. promote() already catches internally, so
+      // this is belt-and-suspenders against future changes.
+      await promote(file);
     }
   }
 }
 
+// BUG FIX #4: Return a shutdown function so index.js can clear the intervals
+// and close the queue connection during SIGTERM.
 export function startPromotionWorker() {
   loadIdleThreshold();
-  setInterval(loadIdleThreshold, 60_000);
-  setInterval(scan, POLL_MS);
+  thresholdInterval = setInterval(loadIdleThreshold, 60_000);
+  scanInterval      = setInterval(scan, POLL_MS);
   console.log(`[promotion] watching ${GROWING_PATH} (idle threshold ${idleThresholdMs}ms)`);
+
+  return async function stopPromotionWorker() {
+    if (scanInterval)      clearInterval(scanInterval);
+    if (thresholdInterval) clearInterval(thresholdInterval);
+    await proxyQueue.close().catch(() => {});
+    console.log('[promotion] worker stopped');
+  };
 }