most safety professionals agree that the most critical element in the prevention of injuries and incidents is

the support of management

Explanation:

The most critical element to prevent injuries and incidents is the support of management. This is mainly because management is responsible for supervising the employees and making sure everything is running smoothly. They are given this position because of their higher knowledge. Therefore, if they support the employees' actions/decisions it is because the action/decision is safe and being done correctly, causing the employee to go ahead with it. Without management support employees would perform actions wrongly which ultimately leads to incidents.