diff --git a/packages/backend-core/src/index.ts b/packages/backend-core/src/index.ts
index ffffd8240a..c7cf9f56cc 100644
--- a/packages/backend-core/src/index.ts
+++ b/packages/backend-core/src/index.ts
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ export * as timers from "./timers"
 export { default as env } from "./environment"
 export * as blacklist from "./blacklist"
 export * as docUpdates from "./docUpdates"
+export * from "./utils/Duration"
 export { SearchParams } from "./db"
 // Add context to tenancy for backwards compatibility
 // only do this for external usages to prevent internal
diff --git a/packages/backend-core/src/queue/inMemoryQueue.ts b/packages/backend-core/src/queue/inMemoryQueue.ts
index af2ec6dbaa..a8add7ecb6 100644
--- a/packages/backend-core/src/queue/inMemoryQueue.ts
+++ b/packages/backend-core/src/queue/inMemoryQueue.ts
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ class InMemoryQueue {
    * @param opts This is not used by the in memory queue as there is no real use
    * case when in memory, but is the same API as Bull
    */
-  constructor(name: string, opts = null) {
+  constructor(name: string, opts?: any) {
     this._name = name
     this._opts = opts
     this._messages = []
diff --git a/packages/backend-core/src/queue/queue.ts b/packages/backend-core/src/queue/queue.ts
index 0658147709..c0d1861de3 100644
--- a/packages/backend-core/src/queue/queue.ts
+++ b/packages/backend-core/src/queue/queue.ts
@@ -2,11 +2,18 @@ import env from "../environment"
 import { getRedisOptions } from "../redis/utils"
 import { JobQueue } from "./constants"
 import InMemoryQueue from "./inMemoryQueue"
-import BullQueue from "bull"
+import BullQueue, { QueueOptions } from "bull"
 import { addListeners, StalledFn } from "./listeners"
+import { Duration } from "../utils"
 import * as timers from "../timers"
+import * as Redis from "ioredis"
 
-const CLEANUP_PERIOD_MS = 60 * 1000
+// the queue lock is held for 5 minutes
+const QUEUE_LOCK_MS = Duration.fromMinutes(5).toMs()
+// queue lock is refreshed every 30 seconds
+const QUEUE_LOCK_RENEW_INTERNAL_MS = Duration.fromSeconds(30).toMs()
+// cleanup the queue every 60 seconds
+const CLEANUP_PERIOD_MS = Duration.fromSeconds(60).toMs()
 let QUEUES: BullQueue.Queue[] | InMemoryQueue[] = []
 let cleanupInterval: NodeJS.Timeout
 
@@ -21,7 +28,14 @@ export function createQueue<T>(
   opts: { removeStalledCb?: StalledFn } = {}
 ): BullQueue.Queue<T> {
   const { opts: redisOpts, redisProtocolUrl } = getRedisOptions()
-  const queueConfig: any = redisProtocolUrl || { redis: redisOpts }
+  const queueConfig: QueueOptions = {
+    redis: redisProtocolUrl! || (redisOpts as Redis.RedisOptions),
+    settings: {
+      maxStalledCount: 0,
+      lockDuration: QUEUE_LOCK_MS,
+      lockRenewTime: QUEUE_LOCK_RENEW_INTERNAL_MS,
+    },
+  }
   let queue: any
   if (!env.isTest()) {
     queue = new BullQueue(jobQueue, queueConfig)
diff --git a/packages/backend-core/src/utils/Duration.ts b/packages/backend-core/src/utils/Duration.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..f376c2f7c7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/backend-core/src/utils/Duration.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,49 @@
+export enum DurationType {
+  MILLISECONDS = "milliseconds",
+  SECONDS = "seconds",
+  MINUTES = "minutes",
+  HOURS = "hours",
+  DAYS = "days",
+}
+
+const conversion: Record<DurationType, number> = {
+  milliseconds: 1,
+  seconds: 1000,
+  minutes: 60 * 1000,
+  hours: 60 * 60 * 1000,
+  days: 24 * 60 * 60 * 1000,
+}
+
+export class Duration {
+  static convert(from: DurationType, to: DurationType, duration: number) {
+    const milliseconds = duration * conversion[from]
+    return milliseconds / conversion[to]
+  }
+
+  static from(from: DurationType, duration: number) {
+    return {
+      to: (to: DurationType) => {
+        return Duration.convert(from, to, duration)
+      },
+      toMs: () => {
+        return Duration.convert(from, DurationType.MILLISECONDS, duration)
+      },
+    }
+  }
+
+  static fromSeconds(duration: number) {
+    return Duration.from(DurationType.SECONDS, duration)
+  }
+
+  static fromMinutes(duration: number) {
+    return Duration.from(DurationType.MINUTES, duration)
+  }
+
+  static fromHours(duration: number) {
+    return Duration.from(DurationType.HOURS, duration)
+  }
+
+  static fromDays(duration: number) {
+    return Duration.from(DurationType.DAYS, duration)
+  }
+}
diff --git a/packages/backend-core/src/utils/index.ts b/packages/backend-core/src/utils/index.ts
index 318a7f13ba..ac17227459 100644
--- a/packages/backend-core/src/utils/index.ts
+++ b/packages/backend-core/src/utils/index.ts
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
 export * from "./hashing"
 export * from "./utils"
 export * from "./stringUtils"
+export * from "./Duration"
diff --git a/packages/backend-core/src/utils/tests/Duration.spec.ts b/packages/backend-core/src/utils/tests/Duration.spec.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..46b996f788
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/backend-core/src/utils/tests/Duration.spec.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+import { Duration, DurationType } from "../Duration"
+
+describe("duration", () => {
+  it("should convert minutes to milliseconds", () => {
+    expect(Duration.fromMinutes(5).toMs()).toBe(300000)
+  })
+
+  it("should convert seconds to milliseconds", () => {
+    expect(Duration.fromSeconds(30).toMs()).toBe(30000)
+  })
+
+  it("should convert days to milliseconds", () => {
+    expect(Duration.fromDays(1).toMs()).toBe(86400000)
+  })
+
+  it("should convert minutes to days", () => {
+    expect(Duration.fromMinutes(1440).to(DurationType.DAYS)).toBe(1)
+  })
+})