diff --git a/webapp/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/controller/freemarker/SimpleReasonerRecomputeController.java b/webapp/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/controller/freemarker/SimpleReasonerRecomputeController.java
index 08a7dddae..fd16e2a75 100644
--- a/webapp/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/controller/freemarker/SimpleReasonerRecomputeController.java
+++ b/webapp/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/controller/freemarker/SimpleReasonerRecomputeController.java
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 /* $This file is distributed under the terms of the license in /doc/license.txt$ */
 package edu.cornell.mannlib.vitro.webapp.controller.freemarker;
 
+import static edu.cornell.mannlib.vitro.webapp.utils.threads.VitroBackgroundThread.WorkLevel.WORKING;
+
 import java.util.HashMap;
 import java.util.Map;
 
@@ -14,6 +16,7 @@ import edu.cornell.mannlib.vitro.webapp.controller.freemarker.responsevalues.Exc
 import edu.cornell.mannlib.vitro.webapp.controller.freemarker.responsevalues.ResponseValues;
 import edu.cornell.mannlib.vitro.webapp.controller.freemarker.responsevalues.TemplateResponseValues;
 import edu.cornell.mannlib.vitro.webapp.reasoner.SimpleReasoner;
+import edu.cornell.mannlib.vitro.webapp.utils.threads.VitroBackgroundThread;
 
 public class SimpleReasonerRecomputeController extends FreemarkerHttpServlet {
 
@@ -49,7 +52,10 @@ public class SimpleReasonerRecomputeController extends FreemarkerHttpServlet {
                 } else {
                     String submit = (String)vreq.getParameter("submit");
                     if (submit != null) {
-                        new Thread(new Recomputer((simpleReasoner))).start();
+                    	VitroBackgroundThread thread = new VitroBackgroundThread(new Recomputer((simpleReasoner)),
+								"SimpleReasonerRecomputController.Recomputer");
+						thread.setWorkLevel(WORKING);
+						thread.start();
                         messageStr = "Recompute of inferences started. See vivo log for further details.";                       
                     } else {
                         body.put("formAction", UrlBuilder.getUrl("/RecomputeInferences"));
diff --git a/webapp/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/reasoner/SimpleReasoner.java b/webapp/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/reasoner/SimpleReasoner.java
index cd61b2d4f..1ce5169e5 100644
--- a/webapp/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/reasoner/SimpleReasoner.java
+++ b/webapp/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/reasoner/SimpleReasoner.java
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@
 
 package edu.cornell.mannlib.vitro.webapp.reasoner;
 
+import static edu.cornell.mannlib.vitro.webapp.utils.threads.VitroBackgroundThread.WorkLevel.WORKING;
+
 import java.util.ArrayList;
 import java.util.HashSet;
 import java.util.Iterator;
@@ -42,6 +44,7 @@ import edu.cornell.mannlib.vitro.webapp.dao.jena.event.BulkUpdateEvent;
 import edu.cornell.mannlib.vitro.webapp.rdfservice.RDFService;
 import edu.cornell.mannlib.vitro.webapp.rdfservice.RDFServiceException;
 import edu.cornell.mannlib.vitro.webapp.rdfservice.impl.jena.model.RDFServiceModel;
+import edu.cornell.mannlib.vitro.webapp.utils.threads.VitroBackgroundThread;
 
 /**
  * Allows for real-time incremental materialization or retraction of RDFS-
@@ -1536,7 +1539,10 @@ public class SimpleReasoner extends StatementListener {
 	    		log.info("received a bulk update end event");
 	    		if (!deltaComputerProcessing) {
 	    		    deltaComputerProcessing = true;
-	    		    new Thread(new DeltaComputer(),"DeltaComputer").start();
+					VitroBackgroundThread thread = new VitroBackgroundThread(new DeltaComputer(), 
+							"SimpleReasoner.DeltaComputer");
+	    		    thread.setWorkLevel(WORKING);
+					thread.start();
 	    		} else {
 	    			eventCount--;
 	    			log.info("received a bulk update end event while currently processing in aynchronous mode. Event count = " + eventCount);
diff --git a/webapp/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/utils/threads/VitroBackgroundThread.java b/webapp/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/utils/threads/VitroBackgroundThread.java
index 8f5fd3908..47780558f 100644
--- a/webapp/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/utils/threads/VitroBackgroundThread.java
+++ b/webapp/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/utils/threads/VitroBackgroundThread.java
@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@ public class VitroBackgroundThread extends Thread {
 		allThreads.add(new WeakReference<VitroBackgroundThread>(this));
 	}
 
-	protected void setWorkLevel(WorkLevel level, String... flags) {
+	public void setWorkLevel(WorkLevel level, String... flags) {
 		log.debug("Set work level on '" + this.getName() + "' to " + level
 				+ ", flags=" + flags);
 		stamp = new WorkLevelStamp(level, flags);