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This paper describes the operational cycle of a workers' compensation insurer in Colombia. It explains the basic characteristics of complexity which are presented in systems like occupational risk, and proposes the use of system dynamics as an alternative to model those characteristics. The paper uses the causal loop diagrams to present the basic structure of the operational cycle model. We concluded that the operational cycle has important feedback cycles, time delays, and nonlinear relations that affect the understanding of the real system. Thus, the use of system thinking and formal simulation models are useful tools to understand and improve decisions in real systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]