diff --git a/lib/foreman/engine.rb b/lib/foreman/engine.rb
index 94ac725..fbe9d38 100644
--- a/lib/foreman/engine.rb
+++ b/lib/foreman/engine.rb
@@ -74,7 +74,7 @@ private ######################################################################
   def kill_all(signal="SIGTERM")
     running_processes.each do |pid, process|
       info "sending #{signal} to pid #{pid}"
-      Process.kill(signal, pid) rescue Errno::ESRCH
+      process.kill signal
     end
   end
 
diff --git a/lib/foreman/process.rb b/lib/foreman/process.rb
index e37bc17..bbabc80 100644
--- a/lib/foreman/process.rb
+++ b/lib/foreman/process.rb
@@ -25,6 +25,24 @@ class Foreman::Process
     "%s.%s" % [ entry.name, num ]
   end
 
+  def kill(signal)
+    pid && Process.kill(signal, pid)
+  rescue Errno::ESRCH
+    false
+  end
+
+  def detach
+    pid && Process.detach(pid)
+  end
+
+  def alive?
+    kill(0)
+  end
+
+  def dead?
+    !alive?
+  end
+
 private
 
   def fork_with_io(command)
@@ -65,5 +83,4 @@ private
   ensure
     ENV.replace original
   end
-
 end