The player could have colonists craft tools that speed up tasks (drill for mining, saw for construction, etc.). Balanced by having skill determine chance of injury when using, maybe even setting minimum skill requirements to use at all. Faster work at the expense of safety, essentially.
Might want to take a peek at this mod then: https://ludeon.com/forums/index.php?topic=6666.0 (https://ludeon.com/forums/index.php?topic=6666.0)
Still a bit overpowered imo, but may be what you're looking for...