diff --git a/lib/qless/worker.rb b/lib/qless/worker.rb
index c23593a8..e66f2443 100644
--- a/lib/qless/worker.rb
+++ b/lib/qless/worker.rb
@@ -10,9 +10,14 @@ class Worker
     def initialize(client, job_reserver, options = {})
       @client, @job_reserver = client, job_reserver
       @shutdown = @paused = false
+
       self.very_verbose = options[:very_verbose]
       self.verbose = options[:verbose]
       self.run_as_single_process = options[:run_as_single_process]
+      self.output = options.fetch(:output, $stdout)
+
+      output.puts "\n\n\n" if verbose || very_verbose
+      log "Instantiated Worker"
     end
 
     # Whether the worker should log basic info to STDOUT
@@ -26,6 +31,10 @@ def initialize(client, job_reserver, options = {})
     # This should only be true in a dev/test environment
     attr_accessor :run_as_single_process
 
+    # An IO-like object that logging output is sent to.
+    # Defaults to $stdout.
+    attr_accessor :output
+
     # Starts a worker based on ENV vars. Supported ENV vars:
     #   - REDIS_URL=redis://host:port/db-num (the redis gem uses this automatically)
     #   - QUEUES=high,medium,low or QUEUE=blah
@@ -179,10 +188,10 @@ def register_signal_handlers
     # Log a message to STDOUT if we are verbose or very_verbose.
     def log(message)
       if verbose
-        puts "*** #{message}"
+        output.puts "*** #{message}"
       elsif very_verbose
         time = Time.now.strftime('%H:%M:%S %Y-%m-%d')
-        puts "** [#{time}] #$$: #{message}"
+        output.puts "** [#{time}] #$$: #{message}"
       end
     end
 
diff --git a/spec/unit/worker_spec.rb b/spec/unit/worker_spec.rb
index 4ed74da2..d1bf75cb 100644
--- a/spec/unit/worker_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/unit/worker_spec.rb
@@ -361,7 +361,7 @@ def with_env_vars(vars = {})
         with_env_vars do
           orig_new = Worker.method(:new)
           Worker.should_receive(:new) do |client, reserver, options = {}|
-            worker = orig_new.call(client, reserver, options)
+            worker = orig_new.call(client, reserver, options.merge(:output => StringIO.new))
             worker.verbose.should be_false
             worker.very_verbose.should be_false
             worker.run_as_single_process.should be_false
@@ -377,7 +377,7 @@ def with_env_vars(vars = {})
         with_env_vars 'VERBOSE' => '1' do
           orig_new = Worker.method(:new)
           Worker.should_receive(:new) do |client, reserver, options = {}|
-            worker = orig_new.call(client, reserver, options)
+            worker = orig_new.call(client, reserver, options.merge(:output => StringIO.new))
             worker.verbose.should be_true
             worker.very_verbose.should be_false
             worker.run_as_single_process.should be_false
@@ -393,7 +393,7 @@ def with_env_vars(vars = {})
         with_env_vars 'VVERBOSE' => '1' do
           orig_new = Worker.method(:new)
           Worker.should_receive(:new) do |client, reserver, options = {}|
-            worker = orig_new.call(client, reserver, options)
+            worker = orig_new.call(client, reserver, options.merge(:output => StringIO.new))
             worker.verbose.should be_false
             worker.very_verbose.should be_true
             worker.run_as_single_process.should be_false