US prisoners are being assigned dangerous jobs. But what happens if they are hurt or killed?

The U.S. is regularly tapping a ready and captive workforce — the 2.2 million prisoners it currently has behind bars.  

But these prisoners doing some of the country’s dirtiest and most dangerous jobs often are not covered by even the most basic protections such as workers’ compensation.  

This leaves them with little recourse when things go wrong – including when they were maimed, raped or even killed on the job, an AP investigation finds.