The director of the department of corrections and rehabilitation and the warden of the penitentiary shall attempt to employ all offenders committed to the legal and physical custody of the department in maintaining the penitentiary and penitentiary grounds, in carrying on the work of the industries established at the penitentiary or at other state institutions, in doing any work necessary to be done in the erection, repair, or improvement of any of the state buildings, including the executive mansion, and the grounds of such buildings, or in the construction and improvement of the public highways of the state. The department may employ offenders in work projects for county and local governmental agencies and subdivisions. The department shall employ offenders when practicable in the work to which they are best adapted and in the work that will make it possible for them to acquire skill so that they will be able to earn a livelihood when they are paroled or discharged from the institution. The department may employ offenders outside the yard of the penitentiary in cultivating and improving any ground belonging to the department. The department must be held responsible for the escape of any offender notwithstanding that such employment is outside the penitentiary if the escape is made possible through the negligence of the department.