A historical cohort study is carried out to investigate occupational hazards in the German rubber industry since 1991. We present and discuss the study objectives and study design features such as cohort definition, assessment of occupational exposure and selection of the reference population. Cohort enumeration, assessment of vital status and cause of death ascertainment are described. With approximately 2,800 deaths throughout the observation period 1981 to 1991 it will be possible also to study the occupational etiology of rare diseases.