diff --git a/cortexutils/worker.py b/cortexutils/worker.py
index 0ff9827..cc2bcba 100644
--- a/cortexutils/worker.py
+++ b/cortexutils/worker.py
@@ -167,6 +167,21 @@ def get_param(self, name, default=None, message=None):
 
         return self.__get_param(self._input, name, default, message)
 
+    def get_env(self, key, default=None, message=None):
+        """Wrapper for getting configuration values from the environment.
+        :param key: Key of the environment variable to get.
+        :param default: Default value, if not found. Default: None
+        :param message: Error message. If given and key not found, exit with error.
+                        Default: None
+        """
+
+        if key in os.environ:
+            return os.environ[key]
+        else:
+            if message is not None:
+                self.error(message)
+            return default
+
     def error(self, message, ensure_ascii=False):
         """Stop analyzer with an error message.