diff --git a/apps/worker/Dockerfile b/apps/worker/Dockerfile
index 72ba7cd..dfa9203 100644
--- a/apps/worker/Dockerfile
+++ b/apps/worker/Dockerfile
@@ -1,6 +1,10 @@
-FROM python:3.11-slim
+# Use pre-built PyTorch image to avoid massive downloads and build overhead
+FROM pytorch/pytorch:2.1.1-cuda12.1-cudnn8-runtime
 
-# Install system dependencies required by rasterio and other packages
+# Set non-interactive for apt
+ENV DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive
+
+# Install system dependencies and clean up in one layer
 RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends \
     libexpat1 \
     libgomp1 \
@@ -10,6 +14,7 @@ RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends \
     libspatialindex-dev \
     libcurl4-openssl-dev \
     libssl-dev \
+    && apt-get clean \
     && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
 
 WORKDIR /app
@@ -17,10 +22,13 @@ WORKDIR /app
 # Set Python path to include /app
 ENV PYTHONPATH=/app
 
+# Copy requirements and install dependencies
+# We use --no-cache-dir to keep the image small
 COPY requirements.txt .
 RUN pip install --no-cache-dir -r requirements.txt
 
+# Copy the application code
 COPY . .
 
-# Start the RQ worker to listen for jobs on the geocrop_tasks queue
+# Start the RQ worker
 CMD ["python", "worker.py", "--worker"]